The EMI booklet correctly describes Prince Igor as an opera in a Prologue and four acts. However, the recording leaves out the whole of the Third Act, the one in which Igor escapes from the Polovtsian camp and the Khan Konchak betrothes his daughter Konchakovna to Igor's son Vladimir. The set was made in Paris in 1966, and excerpts were issued and reviewed in these pages in January 1968. Though the omission of so much fine music is of course regrettable, there is much to enjoy and admire here. Even if the sound now, despite digital remastering, seems rather hoarse, it is perfectly acceptable to those who can respond to Boris Christoff's superb portrayal of both Galitsky and Konchak. He is a past master at subtly altering his vocal colour: at this stage of his career, he was in full command of a magnificent voice with many shades of colour in it. This is superlative artistry. He has as his rivals in the new set both Ghiuselev and Ghiaurov: Ghiuselev is less inspirational in rousing his men to war on the Polovtsians, though he gives a strong and sensitive portrayal; Ghiaurov makes a splendid Konchak, noble and magnanimous. Of the two Yaroslavnas, Julia Wiener is the more touching, especially in her Act 4 lament, and she gives an affecting account of the (very Glinka-inspired) opening aria. Stefka Evstatiev is less secure here, and her voice tends to become shrill and uncertain of intonation under pressure; she has the mood of the Act 4 lament, but it is a little dry and formal.
There is, in fact, no real comparison between the two sets. Those who have been fired, especially by the recent Covent Garden production, to have the music on their shelves, will doubtless be drawn to the new Sony Classical set. Its advantages include Ghiaurov and Ghiuselev, especially, and a sound, strong, in places affecting Igor from Boris Martinovich. The other parts are on the whole well taken. Emil Tchakarov's handling of the score seems over-anxious to emphasize the epic, from the first, exceedingly slow bars of the Overture; this approach is somewhat subject to the law of diminishing returns. The set is beautifully produced, in a handsome box with a thick booklet that includes articles, synopses and biographies in English, German, French and Italian, and parallel texts in English, German and French and transliterated Russian. The EMI set has only articles and synopses in English, German and French, with a running commentary (and a generous number of bands) but no text. It does, however, add a very attractive selection of Borodin's songs from Christoff. He is, perhaps expectedly, at his finest with some of the dramatic songs, such as the superb Sleeping princess (she is Russia) and the wild, fascinating The sea. But the whole selection of these too-little known pieces (some with orchestra here, some with piano) is well worth the discovery for those who do not know them.'