With tolling bells, grim chords and an uneasy melody, the opening immediately brings to mind Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov,” another tale of a king gone mad.
This first section, “The Divided Kingdom,” shows Aucoin’s talent for creating orchestral textures that are simultaneously granitic and flickering, like fast-shifting storm clouds.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra, deserves credit for consistently leading this richly gifted composer’s works with both organizations over the past few years.
(Aucoin is currently working on an adaptation of Dostoevsky’s “Demons,” planned for the Met.)
The Tchaikovsky lacked the passionate opulence that is this score’s reason for being.
Persons:
“, “ Boris Godunov, ”, Kurosawa’s, —, Yannick Nézet, Dostoevsky’s, Bernstein, Tchaikovsky
Organizations:
Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, hiccups
Locations:
“ Heath, ”