Theses recordings are testaments to a Golden Era at the Met. Though usually cut, the entire role of the conscience-ridden Tsar Boris is here, sung with basso grandeur and paternal anguish by Giorgio Tozzi. As proud Princess Marina, who aims to follow Boris's rival, the false Dimitry, in triumph into Moscow, Nell Rankin reminds us all what being a dramatic-romantic mezzo is all about. Her tenor-partner, Albert da Costa, is a brash if unsubtle Dimitry. The Met's deep "bench" of those days sees that the other roles are well covered: former romantic tenor (and Whiffenpoof!) Charles Kullman takes a malevolent turn as Prince Shuisky; Norman Scott is second-string basso solidity itself as Brother Pimen (both singing, and reading, in character, the inter-scene narratives written for this recording). Paul Franke (later a fine Shuisky himself) is moving as the Holy Fool, veteran character baritone Frank Valentino slithers satisfactorily as Rangoni; others include Margaret Roggero (Tsarevich Fyodor), Laurel Hurley (Tsarevna Xenia), Sandra Warfield (their Nurse), and Arthur Budney (Mityukh, the peasant with all the answers). Legendary conductor Dmitri Mitropoulos has a keen sense of drama. The performance is sung in English, in a marvelous translation by John Gutman.