# Borodin



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

I've recently been listening to some familiar orchestra works by Borodin - it's been awhile, so I thought I'd give him a review - in this case:

*Symphony #2
Polovtsian Dance
*
I'm thinking that perhaps these works don't get as much programing time as they have in past years, but they are enjoyable and provide good listening they are fun to play, also...
Back in my vinyl days, I had a couple of excellent accounts of Symphony #2 -

*Kubelik/VPO* - from 1960, on EMI - with Polovtsian Dances....this one is available on CD, Arkiv has a couple different versions of it listed....not sure if dances are available.

*Mitropoulos/NYPO *- CBS - mid-50s - presently NA - except it's included in a 65 CD set of NYPO historical releases.

the Kubelik, I recall, is very good, the Mitropoulos really outstanding - wonderful solo work - big powerful sonorities...NYPO loved Mitropoulos, and they could really pour it out for him.

My CD versions are *Svetlanov/USSRSO* ['83], paired with Symphony #1 [not a great piece] - this #2 is not bad...not great - raggedness and some muddy textures [not uncommon in this work] - somehow Svetlanov [for me - an erratic, hit or miss conductor] doesn't seem to find the flow, the big climaxes - too often sudden, abrupt...the drama doesn't flow so well...still, not bad...

*Martinon/LSO *- ['58] - the disc claims it from 1961 but I think I read an account which places it in '58.
This one is really terrific!! LSO sounds great, vigorous tempi, fine solo work -LSO had some great principals at that time - DePeyer cl, Waterhouse bssn, Tuckwell hn, Wick trb - excellent pacing, and Martinon brings off the big moments beautifully - I'd love to hear that Mitropoulos again, to see how it compares....Martinon is very fine...

For the Polovtsian Dances - lots of contenders - I deal with just a few - 
the aforementioned Kubelik/VPO is fine, available on a 10-disc set from Arkiv...

*Solti/LSO* - ['66] - on same disc as Martinon Sym #2 - Solti is at his most fiery in this one - blistering fast opening tempo [too fast??] the LSO woodwinds get the notes in, but it's a close call, pretty wild, at the edge...big climaxes, of course - plenty of power - this was the great LSO of the 60s - trained by Monteux...great issues by Monteux, Kertesz, Dorati, Solti, Previn, Abbado....Solti opts for the chorus in this version....this comes off well - good balance maintained in the big choral sections.

*Ozawa/ChicagoSO *- c.'70, [I think] - this one takes the prize - great recording - in the same batch as Ozawa/CSO's great Janacek Sinfonietta - really stellar - great woodwind solo work - oboe, clarinet...the clarinet playing [C. Brody} is stellar - real panache, _bravura_ - he's just eating it up...also, I love to hear Trombone III and Tuba [Kleinhammer, Jacobs] just bury those pedal low "D"s in the Allegro [3/4, 3rd section] gawd, brutal, what a racket!! :tiphat:
Ozawa moves things along well, tho his tempo in the opening section is just a tad slower than Solti's furious gallop...this works well, it enables the woodwinds, esp clarinets, to really nail the licks - big sound, all the notes, phrasing....it doesn't sound slow - it sounds awesome...

I know there are tons of recordings of the Borodin Polovtsian Dances available - Solti is very good and Ozawa is totally superb - highly recommended...


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I love Borodin's music. Wish there was more of it.

So, do you prefer Polovtsian Dances with or without chorus? I tend to prefer orchestra only versions. I have a lot of recordings of this wondrous score, but my favorite is a surprise: Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops on RCA.

The symphony is sadly neglected. Rarely do major orchestras ever play it. It's mostly relegated to community and smaller orchestras. Loris Tjeknavorian on RCA has long been my go-to version, although there are many excellent ones. And one to avoid: Gergiev on Philips. The percussion section is a bar late in the finale at one point and I know it's coming and it drives me crazy. The mistake is in the part, not the score, and how a world class conductor, the producer, and anyone else could make that error is hard to understand. The orchestra librarian association and the Conductor's Guild have documented it in their lists of errors.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

mbhaub said:


> I love Borodin's music. Wish there was more of it.
> 
> So, do you prefer Polovtsian Dances with or without chorus? I tend to prefer orchestra only versions.


I prefer orchestra only, tho I've played it often both ways


> The symphony is sadly neglected. Rarely do major orchestras ever play it. It's mostly relegated to community and smaller orchestras.


Right, it doesn't get played too often..tho a couple years back it was on a ChicagoSO program I was booked to hear....never happened, because the orchestra went on strike that spring.....
Brooding #2 has rather unique time signature for mvt II - 1/1 time....1 whole note beat per measure...when you look at the part, it looks easy - half notes, whole notes, quarter notes - of course, they are all zipping by at a great clip - 1 beat/bar...


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I have a set of his chamber music and it's excellent! I have watched a poorly recorded video of Prince Igor as well, but beyond that I have not explored him further. May be a good time to do so


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

https://www.talkclassical.com/2713-borodin.html?highlight=Borodin

https://www.talkclassical.com/22335-borodins-2nd-symphony-masterpiece.html?highlight=Borodin

https://www.talkclassical.com/43951-alexander-borodin-capable-composer.html?highlight=Borodin

See data base for more


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Thanks for that, Heck. Poor Borodin does sometimes get unfairly neglected apart from the Polovtsian Dances. I love his string quartets but the notturno of the 2nd quartet has been a bit overplayed in the past. I haven't played the Polovtsian Dances for a very long time. I may just pull a copy out when I get home from work.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Heck148 said:


> I've recently been listening to some familiar orchestra works by Borodin - it's been awhile, so I thought I'd give him a review - in this case:
> 
> *Symphony #2
> Polovtsian Dance
> ...


Worth mentioning that there is a *Carlos Kleiber* of the 2nd Symphony as well, in good sound.

This old Marco Polo CD with lesser known *chamber works *by the composer is surprisingly attractive, IMHO:


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

In 1953 the music of Alexander Borodin was adapted by Robert Wright and George Forrest and turned into the Broadway musical *Kismet*. It won three Tony Awards; for Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, and Best Conductor and Musical Director. The musical was made into a film in 1955.

The musical was commissioned by Edwin Lester, founder and director of the *Los Angeles Civic Light Opera*, who conceived of a musical based on the 1911 play Kismet by Edward Knoblock.

The following *Borodin* works were used as musical sources for Kismet:

In the Steppes of Central Asia 
Symphony No. 2, Movement 1 
"Polovtsian Dances" from Prince Igor 
String Quartet No. 2, Movement 2 , Movement 3 
String Quartet No. 1 [it], Movement 4 
Symphony No. 1 [it], Movement 4 
"Serenade" from the Petite Suite 
Act III trio from Prince Igor 
'Aria of Khan Konchak" from Prince Igor 
"Aria of Vladimir Galitsky" from Prince Igor 
Act II scene with Ovlur from Prince Igor

Kismet is set in a fictional Baghdad in the times of The Arabian Nights. The story concerns a wily poet who talks his way out of trouble several times; meanwhile, his beautiful daughter meets and falls in love with the young caliph.

Here's a musical suite from that, but the musical (and film) in their entirety are quite respectful to Borodin's music.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

I have the Carlos Kleiber Joen mentions its coupled with a recording of the same symphony by his father, image below.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Malx said:


> I have the Carlos Kleiber Joen mentions its coupled with a recording of the same symphony by his father, image below.


Eric Kleiber/NBC Symphony?? Interesting, I'd like to hear that one...what year was it recorded?? I wonder.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

pianozach said:


> In 1953 the music of Alexander Borodin was adapted by Robert Wright and George Forrest and turned into the Broadway musical *Kismet*. It won three Tony Awards; for Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, and Best Conductor and Musical Director. The musical was made into a film in 1955.


Ah, yes..."A Stranger in Paradise"....big hit...


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Heck148 said:


> Ah, yes..."A Stranger in Paradise"....big hit...


That's right!

The whole thing is a rather enjoyable listen.

I've Musical Directed the show twice, decades ago. Same director for both productions, although for different groups at different venues.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Malx said:


> I have the Carlos Kleiber Joen mentions its coupled with a recording of the same symphony by his father, image below.


I swear, coming to this place is as bad for temptation as going into a bookshop. I now adopt Oscar Wilde's approach and just give in to it.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Heck148 said:


> Eric Kleiber/NBC Symphony?? Interesting, I'd like to hear that one...what year was it recorded?? I wonder.


Heck - the Erich Kleiber is, unsurprisingly, a recording of a concert given on the 20th December 1947, Carlos's rendition is also a live recording from 12th December 1972. It seems the Kleiber family thought of the work as something to programme in the winter months.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I posted the following concerning Borodin in another thread on this Forum on Aug-13-2018. In that thread titled *In Search of Lost Time*, poster Forss posited a query he explained as "in search of the Russian-Soviet spirit in the sphere of (classical) music, the same spirit that I find in the writings of, say, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Solzhenitsyn and Svetlana Alexievich...."

I've long associated Borodin with Chekhov, in sense of spirit. Both (men of science) seem in their art to lament the loss of the traditional Russian world on the verge of Revolution. I can't read _The Cherry Orchard_ or _Uncle Vanya_ without feeling a deep sense of loss of "what was" and a frightening sense of "what is to come"; nor can I hear the Borodin string quartets with any greater assurance. In my work in the theatre I've longed to design sound for Chekhov utilizing only Borodin's music. Alas, I never got the opportunity for this particular project. But I've read the Chekhov plays many times and always is Borodin either in the background from my stereo or from my memory of his scores.

I still stand by my paragraph these couple of years later.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

SONNET CLV said:


> I posted the following concerning Borodin in another thread on this Forum on Aug-13-2018. In that thread titled *In Search of Lost Time*, poster Forss posited a query he explained as "in search of the Russian-Soviet spirit in the sphere of (classical) music, the same spirit that I find in the writings of, say, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Solzhenitsyn and Svetlana Alexievich...."
> 
> I've long associated Borodin with Chekhov, in sense of spirit. Both (men of science) seem in their art to lament the loss of the traditional Russian world on the verge of Revolution. I can't read _The Cherry Orchard_ or _Uncle Vanya_ without feeling a deep sense of loss of "what was" and a frightening sense of "what is to come"; nor can I hear the Borodin string quartets with any greater assurance. In my work in the theatre I've longed to design sound for Chekhov utilizing only Borodin's music. Alas, I never got the opportunity for this particular project. But I've read the Chekhov plays many times and always is Borodin either in the background from my stereo or from my memory of his scores.
> 
> I still stand by my paragraph these couple of years later.


Borodin and Chekhov: yes, I see what you mean. And also a certain modesty, a simplicity and precision in their choice and use of materials. Good point.


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## sasdwf (Feb 6, 2021)

Great suggestions! Love the Martinon and Ozawa performances.

I’ve derived hours of listening pleasure from the following:
Borodin Requiem, In the Steppes of Central Asia, Polovetsian Dances, and Petite Suite conducted by Geoffrey Simon with the Philharmonia Orchestra . 

Borodin Symphony #2, Petite Suite, Polovtsian Dances performed by Rozhdestvensky and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Slower with more gravitas than the Martinon rendition in the symphony. Truthfully, I really like both.

For a lighter touch with great orchestral clarity, I like Immerseel and Anima Eterna’s take on In the Steppes of Central Asia and Polovetsian Dances coupled with Rimsky’s Scheherazade.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

II'd like to hear that Rozh'sky performance of Borodin #2...I'm sure it's really solid.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

^ I was just listening to it. This is not a symphony I spend a lot of time with and I only have a couple of recordings. So comparisons are beyond me but Rozhdestvensky's recording of #2 (with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic on Chandos) seems a very good one to me and is well recorded, too.


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## Enthalpy (Apr 15, 2020)

Maybe it fits mention here that Borodin was a *great chemist too*, who invented several reactions for organic syntheses, known by every chemist and still in use today.

So while musicians may wonder "It was our Borodin who also made chemistry?", chemists wonder "Our very Borodin was also the composer?"


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Enthalpy said:


> Maybe it fits mention here that Borodin was a *great chemist too*, who invented several reactions for organic syntheses, known by every chemist and still in use today.
> 
> So while musicians may wonder "It was our Borodin who also made chemistry?", chemists wonder "Our very Borodin was also the composer?"


Borodin also strongly promoted medical training for women. He was, in short, one of the good guys.


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