Opera on DVD continues to go from strength to strength. The close-up views of singers and sets, the particular convenience of subtitles in the language of your choice, and the ability to watch highlights over again, together prove an irresistible combination.
BORODIN: Prince Igor
Live at Marinsky Theater, St. Petersburg,
Kirov Orchestra, Ballet and Chorus,
Gergiev (conductor), Putilin, Gorchakova
Philips DVD 074 173-9
The 19th century Russian composer Alexander Borodin was a chemist who wrote music in his spare time. The Russians were then particularly enthusiastic about establishing their national identity and stage spectaculars featuring the founding events of their history were very fashionable. It was in this context that Borodin embarked on his Prince Igor, a grandiose account of the Russian campaign in the 12th century against the flamboyant Polovtsian Tartars.
What with his chemistry and his involvement in an embryonic Russian feminist movement, it's not surprising Borodin never completed the work. But two younger luminaries, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazounov, between them re-wrote, orchestrated and freely composed additional scenes and linking passages. The version that resulted held the stage for 100 years. But now, in a new Russia pursuing its own campaign, this time against the Chechens, a new Prince Igor has been deemed appropriate. Valery Gergiev, the country's leading opera and ballet conductor, has taken up the challenge, and here we have a pair of DVDs showing the result -- far more faithful, it's claimed, to Borodin's intentions.
The theme of the opera is a mixture of Russian chauvinism and reconciliation. Russia's Prince Igor is captured by the Polovtsians, but their leader, Khan Konchak, is a generous-hearted, if rather gross, individual. Furthermore, Igor's son falls for Konchak's daughter, Konchakovna, suggesting that future generations will rise above their parents' rivalry -- or, if you prefer, that the Polovtsians will eventually be happy to be integrated into the Russian motherland.
Whatever you think of that, musically and visually the result is outstanding, a genuinely strong and vigorous Igor. Of the soloists, Galina Gorchakova as Yaroslavna, Sergei Aleksashkin as her dissolute brother Vladimir, Olga Borodina as Konchakovna, and Nikolai Putilin as Igor are most notable. The staging is traditional but nonetheless full of color and evocative splendor. The costumes are especially magnificent. Most interesting of all is the resurrection of Mikhail Fokhine's original Ballets Russes choreography for the famous Polovtsian Dances (which conclude the first disc). These are outstandingly well done. The other highlight is Act 2, Scene 2 (the second scene on the second disc), a tremendously powerful scene between Yaroslavna and Vladimir, followed by the dramatic arrival of the venerable boyars. There are many other splendors too and only the comic interludes with the two gudok players are a bit tiresome. The whole opera lasts over three hours, but once you start watching it's hard to stop. Collectors of opera on DVD will snap it up, but few who buy it on the chance they might like it will be disappointed.
It's politically incorrect to an extreme degree, of course. The destruction of whole armies is seen as a mere inconvenience for both the leading protagonists. Even so, the opera is musically far more interesting than has often been assumed, and the wider audience these magnificent DVDs will give it can do nothing but good.
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