Borodin: Prince Igor - Highlights

Introduction:

There simply isn't anything to beat the adrenalin shot of being one of maybe 120 people on stage performing some major musical masterpiece in front of a hopefully packed house. Orchestral playing is totally addictive! So when I was recently asked to play in the 2nd violin section of the orchestra for a weekend opera workshop, I didn't have to hesitate before saying yes. I was told it would involve around 15 hours of rehearsal ...
...concert performance of the entire opera. Loads of playing = lots of fun! The opera in question was Alexander Porfir'yevich Borodin's "Prince Igor".

Since I didn't know the opera apart from the famous Polovtsian Dances, I thought it might be good to get a CD of it before going to the weekend. Whilst my sight-reading is pretty good, there is nothing more embarrassing as an orchestral player to turn the page, be confronted ... more

Introduction:

There simply isn't anything to beat the adrenalin shot of being one of maybe 120 people on stage performing some major musical masterpiece in front of a hopefully packed house. Orchestral playing is totally addictive! So when I was recently asked to play in the 2nd violin section of the orchestra for a weekend opera workshop, I didn't have to hesitate before saying yes. I was told it would involve around 15 hours of rehearsal from a Friday evening to Sunday morning, followed by a concert performance of the entire opera. Loads of playing = lots of fun! The opera in question was Alexander Porfir'yevich Borodin's "Prince Igor".

Since I didn't know the opera apart from the famous Polovtsian Dances, I thought it might be good to get a CD of it before going to the weekend. Whilst my sight-reading is pretty good, there is nothing more embarrassing as an orchestral player to turn the page, be confronted by an unexpected sight of lots of black notes like ants on the rampage and before you know it - you are lost - as the rest of the orchestra gallops on without you. Having a listen beforehand gives a rough idea of what's happening and helps prevent these unfortunate toe cringing episodes.

So it was off to HMV in Oxford Street, London. A quick trawl among the opera shelves threw up the disappointing news that the cheapest complete recording of "Prince Igor" was retailing for around £25. I really didn't relish shelling out so much for something I might not listen to again, but a brainwave sent me to the extensive selection of Naxos recordings where I found this CD of highlights from "Prince Igor". HMV usually have a "2 for £5" offer on Naxos recordings, an absolute bargain! I picked up another CD featuring contemporary American music and headed for the cashier, mission accomplished... But with such a budget label - was my choice good and useful?

The record company:

Naxos is a classical music record company which definitely deserves a review of their own, but I want to concentrate on this particular CD in this review. However, a little background on Naxos will give more contexts to my CD review: Naxos was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann and in a few years has become one the world's biggest selling classical music labels, achieving this feat despite the big slump in classical music CD sales.

It is well worth exploring their website at www.naxos.com, where one can listen to extracts from all their CDs as well as pay a subscription for full online access to their entire catalogue. Naxos have been able to price their CDs so cheaply due to their frequent use of comparatively less well known Eastern European and Russian orchestras (which are much cheaper to record,) less famous conductors and solo artists, and a budget approach to CD cover design and content. They have a very extensive range of music repertoire - which is generally regarded as being far more adventurous than most other conventional record companies.

The composer and the opera:

Alexander Porfir'yevich Borodin (1833-87) was a highly talented individual who was actually only a "part-time" composer, his main profession being as a professor of chemistry, an area where he also enjoyed significant personal success. He was the illegitimate son of a Georgian prince and given the name of one of his father's servants, but he grew up in a privileged environment which brought him into contact with Western culture and encouraged his interest in classical music. Eventually he became one of "The Five" - a renowned group of Russian nationalist composers consisting of Mily Balakirev (the leader), César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, as well as Borodin.

However, Borodin's main career of chemistry meant that he was frequently distracted from his music and his work on "Prince Igor" lasted intermittently from 1869 until his early death in 1887, which left the opera incomplete. It was edited, completed and orchestrated by Rimsky Korsakov and Glasunov, with much of the 3rd act not being by Borodin and apparently the overture being reconstructed from memory! It was first performed in St. Petersburg in 1890.

"Prince Igor" as a result has a rather mish-mash plot to say the least, which can be safely summarized as the Russians battling against their foes the Polovtsians back in 1185, combined with the usual illicit love affair "across the lines" - throw in a Russian character philosophising about life and love with the assistance of copious amounts of vodka and you really have the opera summed up pretty well. However, many people may recognize the music on this CD from the musical "Kismet" - written by Robert Wright and George Forrest, who basically "borrowed Borodin"...

Performers:

There's a lot of snobbery around about the less well known artists that Naxos tend to use for their CDs. It has to be said that this is extremely unfair. On this disc we have the National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, conducted by their then music director Theodor Kuchar, and 4 Ukrainian singers as soloists as well as the Kiev Municipal Chamber Choir. Ukraine has always had a great tradition in producing fine musicians, and this is demonstrated by the majority of the artists on this CD. Many of these Russian/Russian Federation groups are just as good as, if not better than British or other European musicians - it is important not to prejudge the situation before hearing the CD.

Contents of CD/Performances:
1. Overture: This really sets the standard for the perhaps surprising quality of this excellent recording. The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine plays extremely well, most importantly for the large orchestration there is excellent clarity (no overblown brass here) and one hears both the excitement of the music as well as the gorgeous lyrical elements. Conductor Kuchar keeps a tight hold on his forces and it is nice to hear obviously Russian trained horns, trombones and woodwind, a quite distinctive sound. Many themes from the opera appear in the overture and their differing characterisations are very well brought out in this performance. Fine dynamic range and sound quality throughout the overture.

2 "I don't like boredom" - Galitzky's Recitative and Aria, Act 1: I should state that the vocal extracts on this CD are sung in the original Russian, but there is are translations in the CD booklet. This humorous aria sung by a Russian character about girls, alcohol and yet more girls is performed wittily by bass Taras Shtonda, a typical Russian bass - he carries off this rather fun vodka infused aria with an air of drunken panache, accompanied very precisely by the orchestra.

3. Dance of the Polovtsian Maidens: An orchestral piece, fast and furious, some fine playing from the orchestra and excellent sonic balance throughout. I found this very helpful in getting to know the opera because of the very clear recording - one could really make out inner parts (such as my 2nd violin part!) and that's a big plus point to the expertise of the Naxos sound engineers.

4. "Daylight is fading" - Konchakovna's Cavatina: For me, one of the 2 vocal highlights of this disc, a woman's lament for her missing husband, gorgeously evocative singing by mezzo-soprano Angelina Shvachka, beautifully floated lines and a very well controlled pianissimo voice. The slow melodies, depicting the Polovtsian princess, have almost an oriental flavour to them to differentiate from the music of the Russians. There is some especially stunning woodwind playing which echoes Shvachka's long languorous phrasing. In my opinion worth paying £2.50 for this track alone.

5. "Slowly the day was fading" - Vladimir's Cavatina, Act 2: Another stunning track, this music makes me want to cry it is so beautiful. Interestingly you can immediately hear the different flow of the melody, as Vladmir, Konchakovna's lover is Russian rather than Polovtsian. A slow, lyrical aria, with a totally hummable tune that I guarantee will stay in your head for days afterwards. The tenor Dmytro Popov, demonstrates an effortless technique with wonderfully floated high notes and effortless phrasing. Again, this track more than justifies the purchase price. It is such sensually attractive music, very romantic. The orchestra features (as in the previous track) some evocative woodwind solo playing as well as an appearance from the "big tune" of the overture played by a wonderfully authentic sounding Russian French horn. Great stuff.

6. "There is neither sleep nor rest" - Prince Igor's Aria, Act 2: Sadly, given that this is the showpiece aria of the title role, this is the worst track on the CD. Baritone Mykola Koval is the weakest link amongst the singers, he is obviously straining hard to reach some of the higher notes in the aria and he doesn't really have the breadth of phrasing needed to sustain this intensely melodic writing. It isn't an unacceptable performance, but certainly doesn't live up to the expectations gained by the previous tracks.

7. Choral version of the Polovtsian Dances, Act 2: This is actually one of the hardest parts of the opera to play from the orchestral violinist point of view, lots of very fast figuration and off-beat accents/chords, so from my own experience I can safely say that the orchestral playing is pretty impressive on this track, however the Kiev Chamber Choir are a little "over-enthusiastic" - the sopranos in particular are rather blowsy and there are some strained voices to be heard at times. But the singers do capture the exuberant excitement of this music even if it is nt the most sophisticated and polished of interpretations.

8. Polovtsian March, Act 3: For orchestra only, this piece again evokes the oriental nature of the Polovtsians, and is very well played by the orchestra. I like the facts that even at full blast, the brass don't overpower the strings and woodwind (unlike some far more expensive recordings) and there is an enviable accuracy in ensemble throughout. A stirring and triumphant march to round off the extracts from "Prince Igor".

9. "In the Steppes of Central Asia": Rather bizarrely, instead of making use of the vocalists to perform another ensemble from "Prince Igor" and give an even wider insight into the opera, Naxos tag on a totally unrelated piece by Borodin - a "musical picture" that he composed in 1880. It depicts the progress of a procession across the steppes, using Russian melody, then oriental and finally cleverly combining the two. If you've ever wondered where the big horn tune at the end of Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" comes from, then look no further. The music is very well played, but with the quiet ending depicting the procession disappearing into the distance, it seems an anticlimactic end to an impressive CD.

Conclusions:

Well, I could not have made a better choice to give myself a quick and easy overview of this rather fascinating opera. Having now played the entire 3 hour piece, I can say that the almost 50 minutes of music from "Prince Igor" contained on this highlights disc provide a great starting point for anyone wanting to get to know the opera. I'm sure it will send keen classical fans off to buy a complete version. The sound quality is surprisingly impressive for such a budget price CD, and with the one exception mentioned above, the artists are of first class quality, it is always nice too to hear real authentic Russian accents rather than the totally garbled gobbledegook misrepresentation of the language that one gets from most big name Western opera singers, it really adds a lot to the atmosphere of the CD. I would especially praise the orchestra and conductor who produce exciting, moving interpretations.

It should be emphasised that there are excellent programme notes in the accompanying CD booklet, with biographies of all the artists, a short but highly interesting article about Borodin and most impressive of all, the original Russian lyrics of the vocal tracks plus English translation, something which is frequently missing from much more expensive CD materials. At about an hour of music for £2.50, you can't complain about value for money either.

The only reason I am not giving this recording 5 stars is that I'd rather have had another selection from "Prince Igor" - there are some wonderful ensembles not featured here - than an unrelated performance of "In the Steppes of Central Asia", but this is a small niggle and will probably not bother most potential buyers.
If you like Tchaikovsky and other Russian classical music, this is a must buy for your collection, a really enjoyable listen and another excellent production from Naxos. Highly recommended! 

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