Alexandre Borodine
Though far from prolific as a composer -- by day he was a scientist noted for his research on aldehydes -- Alexander Borodin nevertheless earned a secure place in the history of Russian music. As a creative spirit, he was the most accomplished of the Russian nationalist composers. He had a particular gift for the distinctive stripe of exoticism so evident in his most frequently performed work, the "Polovtsian Dances" from the opera Prince Igor.
The illegitimate son of a Georgian prince and a doctor's wife, Borodin enjoyed a comfortable upbringing. As a child he learned to play several instruments and tried his hand at composing, but other aptitudes directed his formal education. He studied chemistry at St. Petersburg's Medico-Surgical Academy, obtaining his doctorate in 1858 and pursuing further studies in Europe until 1862. Upon his return to Russia, he became a professor at his alma mater, but even as an academic career apparently loomed before him, he maintained a devotion to music.
Under the influence of Mily Balakirev, whom he met in 1862, Borodin became interested in applying elements of Russian folk music to works for the concert hall and stage. He joined a circle of like-minded composers -- Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and Cui -- famously dubbed "The Five" or "The Mighty Handful." The influence of Balakirev in particular is at once in evident in the Symphony No. 1 in E flat major (1867). Borodin began the much craggier Symphony No. 2 in B minor in 1869, the same year he commenced labor on his most important work, the opulent four-act opera Prince Igor. While it took him more than five years to complete the symphony, work on Prince Igor dragged on for decades. Borodin, who had in the meantime completed a number of other works, left the opera unfinished at the time of his death. It was completed posthumously by Rimsky-Korsakov, a skillful craftsman and a particularly apt match for Borodin's colorful musical character, and Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov also completed the Symphony No. 3 in A minor, which the composer had been working on until the time of his death.
Aside from teaching chemistry and conducting research, Borodin helped found a series of medical courses for women in 1872. Such activities, as well as the poor health that plagued him in the 1880s, drained the energy that he might have devoted to composition. Still, as a part-time composer, he left a significant oeuvre: more than a dozen worthy songs, miscellaneous piano pieces, two string quartets (the second of which contains a ravishing Nocturne often performed in an arrangement for string orchestra), and the popular tone poem In the Steppes of Central Asia (1880). Borodin died while attending a ball in St. Petersburg on February 27, 1887.
© James Reel /TiVo
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Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia (Digitally Remastered)
Klassik - Erschienen bei EMG Classical am 17.04.2013
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The Art of Nikolai Golovanov: Borodin - Symphony No. 2
Klassik - Erschienen bei Music Online am 07.12.2007
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Romantic Cello
Alexandre Borodine, Edward Elgar, Julian Lloyd Webber
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 15.02.2022
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String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2
Kammermusik - Erschienen bei Naxos am 24.10.1994
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Borodin: Prince Igor
Klassik - Erschienen bei Music Online am 25.10.2007
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Borodin: Symphony No. 2 in B Minor "The Herculean" (Digitally Remastered)
Klassik - Erschienen bei EMG Classical am 16.04.2013
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Borodin: Symphony no 2
Alexandre Borodine, Christian Lindberg, Oviedo Filarmonía
Klassik - Erschienen bei EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE am 26.03.2024
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Ballet Music: 50 Must-Have Russian Ballet Classics
Ballett - Erschienen bei Cobra Entertainment LLC am 23.06.2017
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Borodin: Prince Igor, Opera in Four Acts (Digitally Remastered)
The Symphony Orchestra of Bolshoi Theatre
Klassik - Erschienen bei EMG Classical am 15.04.2013
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Borodin: Polovetsian Dance No. 8 from Prince Igor (Digitally Remastered)
Klassik - Erschienen bei EMG Classical am 11.04.2013
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Borodin: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Klassik - Erschienen bei Arabesque Recordings am 01.01.1995
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Borodin: Selección de Polovietzkian Dances
Klassik - Erschienen bei Piros Comercial Digital am 19.06.2013
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Romantic Thanksgiving
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexandre Borodine
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 21.11.2020
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Borodin: Symphony No 2, On The Steppes Of Central Asia, Tchaikovsy: 1812 Overture
The Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei Stradivari Classics am 01.01.1989
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Borodin: Petite Suite
Klassik - Erschienen bei Zocotora Records am 13.05.2016
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Dvořák: Piano Quartet - Borodin Piano Quintet & Trio 'Unfinished'
Kammermusik - Erschienen bei Guild GmbH am 15.01.2000
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Prokofiev - Borodin
Sergei Prokofiev, Alexandre Borodine, Christian Lindberg, Oviedo Filarmonía
Klassik - Erschienen bei EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE am 04.07.2023
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Strings by Starlight
The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, Felix Slatkin
Klassik - Erschienen bei Radio Tower Records am 05.01.2015
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The Best of Classic
Klassik - Erschienen bei Piros - Send am 20.06.2011
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The Great Russian Composers
Klassik - Erschienen bei OMP Classics am 30.06.2013
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Borodin: Petite Suite
Alexandre Borodine, Niagara Falls Piano Classic Philharmonic
Klassik - Erschienen bei Pastel Records Canada am 01.06.2023
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