Ernest Ansermet & L'Orchestre Da La Suisse Romande Alexander Borodin: Symphonies Nos.2 & 3, Prince Igor Overture (2 LP)
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin achieved some posthumous fame when Robert Wright and George Forrest made his musical work the basis for their Broadway musical Kismet in 1953 . Borodin himself was a successful chemist and medicin his main occupation, researching among other things in the field of polymerization and condensation reaction and advocating women's studies in Tsarist Russia. However, he gained international fame less as a scientist than as a composer.
Borodin was part of the 'Group of Five', also known as 'The Mighty Heap', consisting of the composers Mili Balakirew, César Cui, Modest Musorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and himself. They made it their business to create national Russian music promote and free oneself from Western European influences. How Borodin even managed to compose alongside his full-time work remains a mystery. Ernest Ansermet conducts some of his most important works with the Orchester de la Suisse Romande for this 1954 recording at the Victoria Hall in Geneva. The double 180g vinyl LP (45 rpm) is newly mastered by Bernie Grundman for ORG and comes in a classy gatefold cover.
Track-list:
Side A Borodin: Symphony No. 2 in B minor
1. First Movement: Allegro
2. Second Movement: Scherzo (Prestissimo)
Side B Borodin: Symphony No. 2 in B minor
3. Third Movement: Andante
4. Fourth Movement: Finale (Allegro
Side C Borodin: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor
5. First Movement: Moderato assai
6. Second Movement: Scherzo (Vivo)
Side D
7. Prince Igor Overture