Opera Scotland

Prince Igor 1962Belgrade Opera

Read more about the opera Prince Igor

The music of Prince Igor was familiar, both in the form of its ballet music, the Polovtsian Dances, popular in concert form, and much of the music adapted in the previous decade for the musical Kismet.

However the opera itself was a great rarity, and receiving its first professional performances in Scotland. The fact that the company also brought its ballet dancers made it all possible. Miroslav Cangalović sang in Russian, everyone else in Serbo-Croat. He also doubled the roles of Konchak and Galitsky (on the opening night).

The five operas brought were, with one exception (Massenet's Don Quichotte) of Russian origin - the others being Khovanshchina, The Gambler and The Love for Three Oranges, the last two being British premieres. The other opera at the Festival was presented by the English Opera Group - a new staging of Britten’s tense little masterpiece, The Turn of the Screw.

Cast details are taken from a copy of the programme.