Aria Listing

The Clock Scene (Uf, tja zhelo!) -
      from Act II of the Russian opera, Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky
      Libretto : Modest Mussorgsky, after Pushkin's play

• Role : Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia
• Voice Part : bass-baritone   Fach : dramatic bass
• Setting : a room in the Tsar's chambers in the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, 1603
• Range : B3 to E4. Tessitura : D#/Eb3 to D#/Eb4
• Synopsis : Boris is told by Prince Shuisky that a rival to his throne has appeared and it seems that it is a man pretending to be Dmitri, the half-brother of the previous Tsar who was killed in order to facilitate Boris's rise to the throne. Although Shuisky assures Boris that the real Dmitri is dead, Boris is overcome with the possibility that Dmitri has come back from the dead to haunt him. As the chimes of a clock are struck, Boris imagines that he sees the ghost of Dmitri. In horror he falls to the floor and prays for forgiveness.
• Sound file : none
• Translation and/or Aria Text : none
• Recordings : Complete Opera  Excerpts from Opera
• Where to Find It : Score of opera - Classical Vocal Reprints, 1-800-298-7474., Catalog #EB85. Buy vocal score online (full score edition) at Sheet Music Plus.