Editing Boris Godunov (opera) (section)

==Roles==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; line-height:1.5"
!style="width:55%;"|Role
!style="width:15%;"|[[Voice type]]
!style="width:30%;"|Premiere cast<ref>Calvocoressi, Abraham (1974: p. 47)</ref><br />[[Mariinsky Theatre]], St Petersburg<br />27 January 1874<br />Conductor: [[Eduard Nápravník]]
|-
|[[Boris Godunov]]
|[[bass-baritone]] or high [[bass (voice type) | bass]]
|[[Ivan Melnikov (singer)|Ivan Melnikov]]
|-
|[[Feodor II|Fyodor]] (or Feodor), ''his son''
|[[mezzo-soprano]]
|[[Aleksandra Krutikova]]
|-
|[[Xenia Borisovna Godunova|Kseniya]] (or Xenia), ''Boris's daughter''
|[[soprano]]
|[[Wilhelmina Raab]]
|-
|''Kseniya's nurse''
|[[contralto]]
|[[Olga Shryoder (Schröder)]]
|-
|[[Vasili IV of Russia|Prince Vasiliy Ivanovich Shuysky]]
|[[tenor]]
|[[Vasiliy Vasilyev, 'Vasilyev II']]
|-
|[[Vasily and Andrey Shchelkalov|Andrey Shchelkalov]], ''[[Dyak (clerk)|Clerk]] of the [[Duma]]''
|[[bass-baritone]]
|[[Vladimir Sobolev (bass-baritone)|Vladimir Sobolev]]
|-
|Pimen, ''chronicler-[[hermit]]''
|[[Bass (voice type)|bass]]
|[[Vladimir Vasilyev, 'Vasilyev I']]
|-
|The [[False Dmitry I|Pretender]] ''under the name'' Grigoriy ''(in training with Pimen)''
|[[tenor]]
|[[Fyodor Petrovich Komissarzhevsky|Fyodor Komissarzhevsky]]
|-
|[[Marina Mniszech]]*, ''the daughter of the [[Sandomierz]] [[Voivode|Voyevoda]]''
|[[mezzo-soprano]] or [[soprano]]
|[[Yuliya Platonova]]
|-
|Rangoni,* ''a covert [[Jesuit]]''
|[[Bass (voice type)|bass]]
|Josef Paleček
|-
|Varlaam, ''a [[Vagabond (person)|vagabond]]''
|[[Bass (voice type)|bass]]
|[[Osip Petrov]]
|-
|Misail, ''a vagabond''
|[[tenor]]
|[[Pavel Dyuzhikov]]
|-
|''The Innkeeper''
|[[mezzo-soprano]]
|[[Antonina Abarinova]]
|-
|''The [[Yurodivy#Eastern Christianity|yuródivïy]]''
|[[tenor]]
|[[Pavel Bulakhov]]
|-
|Nikitich, ''a police officer''
|[[Bass (voice type)|bass]]
|[[Mikhail Sariotti]]
|-
|Mityukha, ''a peasant''
|[[Bass (voice type)|bass]]
|[[Lyadov]]
|-
|''The Boyar-in-Attendance''
|[[tenor]]
|[[Sobolev]]
|-
|''The [[Boyar]]'' Khrushchov*
|[[tenor]]
|[[Matvey Matveyev]]
|-
|Lawicki* (or Lavitsky), ''Jesuit''
|[[Bass (voice type)|bass]]
|[[Vladimir Vasilyev, 'Vasilyev I']]
|-
|Czernikowski* (or Chernikovsky), ''Jesuit''
|[[Bass (voice type)|bass]]
|[[Sobolev]]
|-
|Colspan="3"|Chorus, silent roles: ''Boyars, the Boyars' children, [[Streltsy|streltsï]], bodyguards, policemen, Polish nobles*, Sandomierz maidens*, wandering minstrels, people of Moscow''
|}

''Note:'' Roles designated with an asterisk (*) do not appear in the 1869 Original Version. 'Yuródivïy' is often translated as 'Simpleton' or 'Idiot'. However, '[[Foolishness for Christ#Eastern Christianity|Holy Fool]]' is a more accurate English equivalent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arzamas.academy/materials/1375|title=Чайковский и "Могучая кучка": спор о русской музыке|trans-title=Tchaikovsky and The Mighty Handful: A Debate about Russian Music|quote=Under the influence of these ideas, the source of which was largely French naturalism, new images from the social lower classes emerge in Mussorgsky’s works as “high” music – for example, the [[Foolishness for Christ#Eastern Christianity|Holy Fool]] [often wrongly translated to English as 'Simpleton'] in opera ''Boris Godunov''|publisher=Arzamas Academy|access-date=November 22, 2019|language=ru}}
* {{cite web |title=Блаженные похабы |trans-title=The Blessed Offenders |url=https://predanie.ru/book/91934-blazhennye-pohaby/ |website=predanie.ru |publisher=Orthodox Portal "Predanie" |access-date=23 October 2020 |language=ru|quote=he is privileged to ridicule, burlesque and defile the most sacred and important ceremonies… licensed to behave as no ordinary mortals would dream of behaving}}</ref>{{efn|This Holy Fool's character development also explicitly (see also the [[Novgorod]] [[:File:Tsarskiy titulyarnik emblems.jpg|coat of arms]] and [[Mussorgsky family]] history) references the controversial "bears appearance" scene in Bible. When a group of boys (or youths<ref>Hebrew ''na'ar'', translated "youths" in the [[New International Version]]. ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' on [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5682-elisha Elisha] states, "The offenders were not children, but were called so ("ne'arim") because they lacked ("meno'arin") all religion ([[Soṭah]] 46b)." Although the [[Authorized King James Version]] used the words "little children", theologian [[John Gill (theologian)|John Gill]] stated in his [http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/2-kings-2-23.html ''Exposition of the Bible''] that the word was "used of persons of thirty or forty years of age".</ref>) from Bethel taunted the prophet [[Elisha]] for his baldness, Elisha cursed them in the name of [[Yahweh]] and two female bears came out of the forest and tore forty-two of the boys.<ref name=duffy>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Duffy |first=Daniel |year=1909 |title=Eliseus |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05386c.htm |encyclopedia=[[The Catholic Encyclopedia]] |volume=5 |location=New York |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |access-date=7 January 2014}}</ref> Holy Fool finishes the opera, 2nd edition, as a prophet. [[Tchaikovsky]] used to call Mussorgsky "a bear" as an insult.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tchaikovsky: Between Heaven and Hell |url=https://www.youtube.com/embed/nXb4XT3lwQQ?start=1199 |website=[[YouTube]] |publisher=[[TV Center]] |access-date=29 September 2020 |language=ru|date=4 January 2020}}</ref>}} In other roles lists created by Mussorgsky, Pimen is designated a monk (инок), Grigoriy a novice (послушник), Rangoni a Cardinal (кардинал), Varlaam and Misail vagrant-monks (бродяги-чернецы), the Innkeeper a hostess (хозяйка), and Khrushchov a Voyevoda (воевода).<ref>Orlova, Pekelis (1971: pp. 198–199)</ref> Pimen, Grigoriy, Varlaam, and Misail were likely given non-clerical designations to satisfy the censor.