»Khovanshchina« - Synopsis

Moscow in 1682 – the Old Believers find themselves being repressed by the regime. Prince Ivan Khovansky supports the Old Believers, whose ranks include their leader Dosifey and mystic Marfa. The Streltsy serve as bodyguards of Ivan Khovansky. Ivan’s main political adversary is the boyar Shaklovity.

Red Square in the morning. Shaklovity dictates a letter to the court against the Khovanskys. Ivan delivers a speech opposing the Tsar’s policies to his followers. German girl Emma tries to escape the advances of Ivan’s son Andrey. The situation is interrupted by Marfa, whom Andrey had previously seduced. Marfa predicts a dark fate for him. Ivan returns and Emma is arrested. Father and son have a bitter quarrel about her.

The superstitious Prince Golitsyn has invited Marfa to tell his fortune. Enraged by Marfa’s gloomy prediction, Golitsyn gives the order to have her drowned. Khovansky and Dosifei arrive, and the three men argue about how to change the course of Russian history.

Having escaped, Marfa remembers her love for Andrey. The Streltsy, engaged in drinking, hear news of the return to Moscow of Tsar Peter with his guard and a group of foreign mercenaries.

Ivan is alone with only his slaves to entertain him. Shaklovity invites him to the council, and Ivan is stabbed to death. Golitsyn is exiled, as Marfa predicted. The mercenaries have been ordered to hound the Old Believers to their church and execute them. Dosifey decides that they must protest by committing suicide by self-immolation. When Andrey discovers that Emma has escaped to her native land, he curses Marfa and orders the Streltsy to kill her. However, the Streltsy have already been arrested. Facing execution, they are pardoned by the Tsar at the last moment.

The Old Believers commit mass suicide at a funeral pyre. Moved by their faith and Marfa’s dedication, Prince Andrey also steps into the pyre, which is lit to the horror of the approaching troops. But Prince Andrey is only there because Marfa has trapped him. He is terrified of dying and does everything he can to escape his death. As trumpets blow, the Old Believers continue singing until the flames engulf them.