Act I
Daybreak in Red Square, Moscow

Kuzka, one of the Streltsy, has fallen asleep whilst on guard. Still drowsy as he awakens, he starts to sing. Just then, two of his comrades arrive. They mock him and, as a foretaste of the struggle which is tearing the country apart, they boast about the atrocities they committed the day before. A clerk enters. He is approached by Shaklovity a Russian boyar (or nobleman), who asks him to write an anonymous letter to the supreme authorities accusing Prince Ivan Khovansky, leader of the Streltsy, of wanting to sow discord in the country in order to put his son Andrei on the throne. The clerk agrees to write the letter in exchange for a sum of money. A group of Muscovites notice some inscriptions on a pillar. They oblige the clerk to read the words to them: the inscription announces the numerous deportations and executions carried out by the Streltsy. When Ivan Khovansky (known as the “white swan”) arrives, he is acclaimed by the crowd. He assures them that he will fight against the treachery born of the new ideas which are wreaking havoc in Russia. After ordering the Streltsy to patrol the city, he leaves, accompanied by his retinue. Just then, Emma, a young German woman appears, pursued by an insistent Prince Andrei Khovansky. Just as the latter is about to kiss her by force, Marfa, a young widow from the sect of Old Believers, intervenes. Marfa, who also happens to be Andrei’s former mistress, reproaches the Prince for his treachery and demands that he let Emma go. Enraged, the young man tries to stab her, but Marfa manages to fend off the attack. Prince Ivan’s timely return puts an end to the confrontation. But a new dispute erupts, this time between father and son, because Ivan, too, has designs on Emma. When he orders his guards to seize her, Andrei threatens to kill her rather than hand her over to the Streltsy. The arrival of Dosifei prevents Andrei from carrying out his threat. The leader of the Old Believers entrusts Marfa with Emma’s protection and implores Khovansky and the Streltsy to save the old faith. As the latter return to the Kremlin, Dosifei and his followers beseech the Lord.

Act II
The palace of Prince Golitsyn, former lover of the tsarevna

The Prince reads a letter from Sophia, but he remains suspicious: the impassioned appeal that she has made to him may be nothing more than a trap. Varsonofiev, one of his loyal lieutenants, interrupts the Prince’s reflections and shows in Marfa, whom the Prince has summoned to reveal the future to him. Leaning over a bowl of water, she invokes the spirits and predicts misfortune, disgrace and exile for Golitsyn. Furious, the Prince dismisses her and orders Varsonofiev to drown her in the marshes. Left alone, Golitsyn is overcome by despair. Just then, Ivan Khovansky arrives. He reproaches the Prince for seeking to assume too much power. The discussion becomes more and more heated, but the arrival of Dosifei calms the situation. He asks the two adversaries to focus anew on their old causes and to find a solution to save Russia from the reforms introduced by Tsar Peter. The dispute flares up again when the chanting of a passing procession of Old Believers rings out in the distance. Khovansky applauds them while Golitsyn dismisses them as mere sectarian fanatics. Just then, Marfa bursts in and recounts how she was attacked by one of Golitsyn’s servants in the marshes at Belgorod. It is thanks only to the intervention of the Petrovsky, Tsar Peter’s troops, that she was saved. Shaklovity appears. He announces that the Khovanskys have been accused of conspiring against the throne, and that Tsar Peter, who has called the conspiring plotters the “Khovanshchina”, has ordered their arrest.

Act III
The Streltsy district, on the other side of the Moskva river

The Old Believers strike up a song castigating heresy. Alone, near the home of Khovansky, Marfa dreams of her love for Andrei, who betrayed her, and has a vision of the pyre on which she and her lover will die. Susanna, one of the Old Believers, condemns her impious love and accuses her of diabolical intrigues. Dosifei intervenes and sends Susanna away. He consoles Marfa and advises her to forget her pain by devoting herself entirely to struggle for the good of her country. Shaklovity passes through the district. He prays for God to give Russia a Tsar who will relieve the country of its misery. A mob of drunken Streltsy burst on the scene. As they sing and dance they are chased and insulted by their furious wives. To calm everyone, Kuzka, the Streltsy guard, sings the ballad of Scandal. However the festivities are short lived. Just then, an out-of-breath scribe arrives and announces to the Streltsy that the Petrovsky are attacking the Streltsy’s women and children. The Streltsy call Prince Ivan and demand that he lead the combat. But their chief advises them to return home and wait to see what the future may hold.

Act IV
The home of prince Khovansky.

The prince is dining. His peasants try to entertain him with songs. An envoy from Golitsyn enters and warns him that his life is in danger. Furious at being disturbed at home with such threats, Khovansky has the messenger punished and summons his Persian slaves to dance for him. The dance is interrupted by the arrival of Shaklovity. The latter asks him to participate in the emergency Grand Council which has been convened by Tsarevna Sophia. Flattered, the Prince puts on his ceremonial uniform. However, as soon as he steps over the threshold, he falls, assasinated. The square in front of Saint Basil the Blessed, Moscow The people gather to see Golitsyn pass as he is sent off into exile in some distant land. Dosifei mourns the loss of two great noblemen: Khovansky and Golitsyn. Marfa informs Dosifei of the Grand Council’s decision: the Petrovsky have received the order to exterminate the Old Believers. Andrei arrives in haste. He accuses Marfa of having taken Emma, the woman he loves, away from him. Marfa responds by telling him that the young woman is now far away and that she more than likely has rejoined her fiancé, the fiancé that Andrei exiled. Andrei, wanting her arrested as a witch, summons the Streltsy. But his call is answered by the Tsar’s soldiers as they leave the Kremlin, leading the Streltsy off to execution. Andrei implores Marfa to save him and she leads him to safety. While the crowd demand the death of the Streltsy, the herald announces that they have been pardoned.

Act V
A pine forest near Moscow

Dosifei announces to the Old Believers that their cause is lost. He calls on them to be firm in their faith, and to die rather than surrender. Marfa, who still loves Andrei, would like to save him from perjury. Just then, the latter arrives and seeks support from Marfa. She consoles him by evoking their former love. The distant trumpets of the guard announce Peter’s advancing troops. On hearing the signal, Dosifei and the Old Believers erect a funeral pyre and clamber on it with candles in their hands. Marfa sets the bonfire ablaze with her candle. When the Tsar’s soldiers arrive on the scene, they watch on in horror as the Old Believers perish in the flames.