In this Mussorgsky masterpiece, a Russian czar is haunted by a horrible act he committed years earlier. The concise original version of the opera, focusing on the emotional disintegration of the title character, creates a theatrical experience of searing intensity. Legendary bass Samuel Ramey wowed audiences in the title role, "singing with unflagging stamina, resonance and an air of tragic death, he created a character at once charismatic and fatally flawed" (San Francisco Chronicle). Also from the San Francisco Chronicle: "Tenor Vsevolod Grivnov made a magnificent counterweight...And bass Vitalij Kowaljow gave a weighty, gorgeously precise performance as the monk Pimen."