Alexander Borodin - Prince Igor (Jerzy Semkow)

Information

Composer: Alexander Borodin

• Prince Igor, IAB 7

Boris Christoff

Julia Wiener

Constantin Chekerliski

Todor Todorov

Sofia National Opera Orchestra & Chorus

Jerzy Semkow, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording

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Alexander Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, a grand musical depiction of medieval Russia, was recorded in Paris in 1966 with the orchestra and chorus of the Sofia National Opera under the direction of Polish-born conductor Jerzy Semkow, a protégé of the renowned Russian maestro Yevgeny Mravinsky. The recording features the celebrated Bulgarian bass Boris Christoff, noted for his powerful voice and dramatic characterisation. Christoff performs two contrasting roles: the scheming Prince Galitsky, brother-in-law to Prince Igor, and the more magnanimous Khan Konchak, the Polovtsian leader who famously orders his people to entertain the captured Russian prince with the Polovtsian dances.

Jerzy Semkow (1928–2014) was a distinguished Polish conductor who gained international recognition for his work with leading orchestras and opera companies. Born in Radomsko, he studied at the Krakow Conservatory and later received a fellowship to study conducting with Evgeny Mravinsky in Leningrad, subsequently serving as Mravinsky’s assistant at the Leningrad Philharmonic. Semkow later conducted at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre and became permanent conductor and artistic director of the National Opera of Warsaw in 1959. He also studied with Tullio Serafin and Bruno Walter. Internationally active, he conducted major orchestras including those in Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, and New York, and served as music director of the St. Louis Symphony from 1975 to 1979. He died in Lausanne, Switzerland.