On May 9, 2023, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will first present Alexander Borodin’s Prince Igor in concert. The libretto is based on such masterpiece of Old Russian epos as The Tale of Igor’s Raid.
Alexander Borodin, a prominent Russian composer and chemist, wrote his largest composition for almost eighteen years. He adapted The Tale of Igor’s Raid by himself while composing the music and writing the poetics almost simultaneously. He successfully filled his work with the Slavs’ heroic spirit, ancient epic tunes and features. Unfortunately, Borodin failed to complete his opera in his lifetime, but his friends and colleagues did it. Alexander Glazunov recomposed the Overture from memory and finished writing some missing episodes, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov orchestrated the best part of the opera.
Created by several masters, the opera nevertheless turned out to be artistically integral. Nowadays, almost everyone – even if he or she has never had chance to enjoy Prince Igor – has probably heard the chorus “Fly away on the wings of the wind” or the aria “Oh, give me freedom”. After the premiere on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in 1890, the opera broke up into small separate masterpieces.
On the Victory Day, the pearl of Russian opera will be performed at the Primorsky Stage. The primary parts will be performed by soloists of the Primorsky Opera. The Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage will be conducted by Anton Torbeev.
