2.3 (above average)
Tuesday 8 June 2010
Tune of the Day: Gliding Dance of the Maidens
from Alexander Borodin's “Polovtsian Dances”
The Polovtsian Dances constitute the best known selections from Alexander Borodin's 1890 opera Prince Igor. They were originally part of Act II, but they are now often played as a stand-alone concert piece.
Dance No. 17, titled “Polovtsian Dance with Chorus”, has become particularly famous. Most of its themes were incorporated into the 1953 musical Kismet, best known of which is the “Gliding Dance of the Maidens”, adapted for the song ”Stranger in Paradise”. The most popular version of this song was sung by Tony Bennett, and it reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in May 1955. Artie Shaw's “My Fantasy”, recorded in 1940, also has a tune virtually identical to this dance.