Opera in a prologue and three acts (1869 version) New Production! For his ninth La Scala season inauguration (the biggest event in the Italian musical calendar), maestro Riccardo Chailly conducts the original 1869 version of Mussorgsky’s fresco on the brutality and solitude of power, a title of profound humanity in which personal drama is reflected in collective tragedy. Inspired by Pushkin, the opera follows the dazzling, tortured reign of the titular Tsar (the brilliant Ildar Abdrazakov), who seizes the throne as society around him is on the threshold of moral crisis. The stage direction of Kasper Holten, former Director of Covent Garden, adds a view of the history of Russia, heightening the emotional experience with a reflection on the value of memory and the bearing of witness.