Glynn Ross presented one of his favorite operas in the company’s first season because, he wrote in his memoirs, he had seen a Boris production of “exceptional success” at the University of Washington the previous year with Cecilia Schultz. He was determined to stage the opera “so that all could see the difference between a student production and a professional one. It was necessary to make the difference very clear.” Both Borises were presented in English; but with legendary bass Jerome Hines in the title role for Seattle Opera, the difference must have been clear indeed.