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)
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 17 avr. 2013
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The Art of Nikolai Golovanov: Borodin - Symphony No. 2
Classique - Paru chez Music Online le 7 déc. 2007
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Romantic Cello
Alexandre Borodine, Edward Elgar, Julian Lloyd Webber
Classique - Paru chez UME - Global Clearing House le 15 févr. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Naxos le 24 oct. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Borodin: Prince Igor
Classique - Paru chez Music Online le 25 oct. 2007
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Borodin: Symphony No. 2 in B Minor "The Herculean" (Digitally Remastered)
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 16 avr. 2013
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Borodin: Symphony no 2
Alexandre Borodine, Christian Lindberg, Oviedo Filarmonía
Classique - Paru chez EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE le 26 mars 2024
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Borodin: Petite Suite
Classique - Paru chez Zocotora Records le 13 mai 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ballet Music: 50 Must-Have Russian Ballet Classics
Ballets - Paru chez Cobra Entertainment LLC le 23 juin 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Borodin: Prince Igor, Opera in Four Acts (Digitally Remastered)
The Symphony Orchestra of Bolshoi Theatre
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 15 avr. 2013
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Borodin: Polovetsian Dance No. 8 from Prince Igor (Digitally Remastered)
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 11 avr. 2013
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Borodin: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Classique - Paru chez Arabesque Recordings le 1 janv. 1995
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Romantic Thanksgiving
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexandre Borodine
Classique - Paru chez UME - Global Clearing House le 21 nov. 2020
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Borodin: Selección de Polovietzkian Dances
Classique - Paru chez Piros Comercial Digital le 19 juin 2013
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Borodin: Symphony No 2, On The Steppes Of Central Asia, Tchaikovsy: 1812 Overture
The Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra
Musique symphonique - Paru chez Stradivari Classics le 1 janv. 1989
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Dvořák: Piano Quartet - Borodin Piano Quintet & Trio 'Unfinished'
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Guild GmbH le 15 janv. 2000
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Prokofiev - Borodin
Sergei Prokofiev, Alexandre Borodine, Christian Lindberg, Oviedo Filarmonía
Classique - Paru chez EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE le 4 juil. 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strings by Starlight
The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, Felix Slatkin
Classique - Paru chez Radio Tower Records le 5 janv. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Classic
Classique - Paru chez Piros - Send le 20 juin 2011
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The Great Russian Composers
Classique - Paru chez OMP Classics le 30 juin 2013
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Borodin: Petite Suite
Alexandre Borodine, Niagara Falls Piano Classic Philharmonic
Classique - Paru chez Pastel Records Canada le 1 juin 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo