Prince Igor | |
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Opera by Alexander Borodin | |
![]() Title page of the published score. The text reads: "Prince Igor, opera in 4 acts with a prologue, words and music by A.P. Borodin, subject adapted from The Lay of Igor's Host." | |
Native title | |
Librettist | Borodin |
Language | Russian |
Based on | The Lay of Igor's Host |
Premiere | 4 November 1890 Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg |
Prince Igor (Russian: Князь Игорь, romanized: Knyaz Igor, ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the early Russian epic The Lay of Igor's Host, which recounts the campaign of the 12th-century prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the invading Cuman ("Polovtsian") tribes in 1185.[1] He also incorporated material drawn from two medieval Kievan chronicles. The opera was left unfinished upon the composer's death in 1887 and was edited and completed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. It was first performed in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1890.[2]