Grosse Komponisten und ihre Musik

Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (31 October/12 November 1833 – 15 February/27 February 1887) was a Russian composer of Georgian parentage who made his living as a notable chemist. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five (or "The Mighty Handful"), who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music. He is best known for his symphonies, his opera Prince Igor, and for later providing the musical inspiration for the musical Kismet.

The Polovetsian Dances are perhaps the best known selections from Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor. They are often played as a stand-alone concert piece as one of the best known works in the classical repertoire. In the opera the dances are performed with chorus, but concert performances often omit the choral parts. The dances do not include the "Polovetsian March" which opens Act III (No. 18), but the overture, dances, and march from the opera have been performed together to form a suite from Prince Igor. In the opera Prince Igor the dances occur in Act II (in the original edition).


Tracklist:

01. Borodin - Polowetzer Tänze (Prinz Igor) - Philharmonia Hungaria, Siegfried Köhler
02. Rimsky-Korsakov - Russische Ostern - (Orchester unbekannt) Heinrich Reiser
03. Mussorgsky - Eine Nacht auf dem kahlen Berge - St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin
04. Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio Espagnol Opus 34 - RSO-Television Luxemburg, Louis De Froment