Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from 'Prince Igor' (with Score)

Aleksandr Borodin:
Dance of the Polovtsian Maidens and Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, opera (with Score)
Composed: 1869-87
Conductor: Enrique Bátiz
Orchestra: The State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra

00:00 Dance of the Polovtsian Maidens. Presto
Polovtsian Dances (Instrumental version)
-02:21 Introduction. Andantino
-03:14 Gliding Dance of the Maidens. Andantino
-05:01 Wild Dance of the Men. Allegro vivo
-06:17 General Dance. Allegro
-08:34 Dance of the Boys and 2nd Dance of the Men. Presto
-09:56 Gliding Dance of the Maidens. Moderato alla breve
-11:26 Dance of the Boys and 2nd Dance of the Men (reprise). Presto
-12:49 General Dance. Allegro con spirito

The Polovtsian Dances, or Polovetsian Dances (Russian: Половецкие пляски) form an exotic scene at the end of act 2 of Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor.

The work remained unfinished when the composer died in 1887, although he had worked on it for more than a decade. A performing version was prepared by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov in 1890. Several other versions, or "completions", of the opera have been made. The dances are performed with chorus and last between 11 and 14 minutes. They occur in act 1 or act 2, depending on which version of the opera is being used. Their music is popular and often given in concert as an orchestral showpiece. At such performances the choral parts are often omitted. The opera also has a "Polovtsian March" which opens act 3, and an overture at the start. When the dances are given in concert, a suite may be formed: Overture – Polovtsian Dances and March from Prince Igor.

Wikipedia article

International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

[pnocella]

Beautiful melody, astonishing harmony, polytonality, whole-tone Le Sacre du Printemps and much of 20th century music owe a debt to Borodin's amazing work!

[davemiller]

Brilliant composition. Still sounds new even today

[commontater]

Wow! What a hoot! Such energy in this performance, and so well directed, with a sense of fun! They make the piece sound Mexican, and I say that like it's a good thing!

[alger]

Glazunov did a fantastic job putting this work together. He made Borodin's work virtually his own, as inevitably, his personal idiosyncracies crept into this work. This is especially true of the opening 6/8 section.
With the Overture to Prince Igor we can definitely recognize compositional techniques used in Glazunov's own works.

If you listen to a work by Glazunov and you think it reminds you of Borodin, just pause a moment - the actual truth may lie exactly the other way around.

Listen to the Five Novelettes for String Quartet or the Wedding March.

Quite frankly, I prefer to listen to Glazunov as a composer in his own right, as the musical qbrains of the Five Nationalists.

Later on, he took on a much more eclectic stance, much to his credit.

[leunjiii]

알렉산드로 보로딘 / 러시아 5인조
유일한 오페라 이고르공
폴로베츠인의 춤

[metacarple]

Why give the who;e score, complete with the vocal parts but play the, frankly disappointing, orchestral version?