Patrick Bade
Borodin: Prince Igor, A Tale of Two Russias
Summary
Patrick Bade introduces Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, composed sporadically over 18 years and left unfinished at Borodin’s death in 1887. Set in the 12th century, Prince Igor reflects the divided identity of Russia between Europe and Asia. Patrick also shares insights on the opera’s characters and the distinctive sound of Russian orchestras and choirs, with excerpts from the opera.
Patrick Bade
Patrick Bade is a historian, writer, and broadcaster. He studied at UCL and the Courtauld Institute of Art. He was a senior lecturer at Christie’s Education for many years and has worked for the Art Fund, Royal Opera House, National Gallery, and V&A. He has published on 19th- and early 20th-century paintings and historical vocal recordings. His latest book is Music Wars: 1937–1945.
This is a mystery. Large parts of it were written down, but large parts of it were missing. Mozart was very famous for doing that. There have been composers, musicians who could just hear a piece of music once and remember the whole thing and then write it out. There are many examples of that and to some extent that seems to be the case with Glazunov.
The important thing about this opera is that it’s about the dual nature of the Russians—that they are both European and Asian at the same time. It’s almost like a split personality.
Acts one and the last act are Western and Act two which is the Polovtsian act is Asian. And you can hear that in the music. It is clearly differentiated in the harmonies and the melodic line, which is Christian and which is pagan.