The Overture was was roughly devised by Borodin during his lifetime. With impressions from the memory of friends who played it on the piano at the time, and based on the drafts he left behind, it was finalized by Glazunov. The music utilizes several tunes from the opera, in sonata form. The prelude ends with a horn flourish by the brass for the Polovtsians from Act III, and after a while there appears the simple and concise first theme, a duet between Igor and Yaroslavna from Act IV. The melody that continues forward is from a trio in Act III. The second theme is an aria by Igor from Act II. In addition, the full ensemble dynamics in the unfolding section are from the accompaniment of King Konchak's aria from Act II. As a whole, the overture has Grazunov's robust character in its treatment.
Prologue, Puttipher City Square. A chorus of praise from the soldiers and the people, and the appearance of King Igor, who is preparing to fight the Tatars, announcing that he is about to go on a crusade against the Tatars, who are threatening Russia. At that moment the sky suddenly darkens and a total eclipse of the sun occurs, which the people take as an ominous sign and wish by chorus not to travel to the sands for the time being. Igor, however, says that the battle is inevitable in order to save Russia, and the nobles, though reluctantly obeying, only two lyre players, Skura and Erosica, leave their weapons behind and run away. King Igor's ex-wife's son, Vladimir, Yaroslavna, and Yaroslavna's brother, Duke Galitsky, took the field together, and with tears in her eyes his wife persuaded him to back down from his decision to go to war. After the Grand Duke entrusted everything in his home to Duke Galitsky, Igor set off with his son in a great hurry, amid the cheers and chorus of the crowd.
Act I Scene 1: The courtyard of Galitsky's residence.
Galitsky, a rebel after the departure of King Igor, is arbitrary and domineering over the affairs of the state and the people, but also intoxicated with wine and sex, and Scylla and Eroica, who escaped from the army of the Grand Duke of Igor, are mixed up with him. The men chorused desultorily when they heard the snatched girls screaming to go home, and Galitsky sang the aria "If I were given the honor of being the Duke of Ptivy", which is the aria of life, wine and women. When a group of women demanded that their robbed daughters be returned to them, Galitsky brusquely said; "Women are happy here, and if you don't behave yourselves, you'll all be arrested" and drove them away. Scylla is worried: if Mrs. Igor knows, it will be bad, the men say, the actual lady does not care about anything, and continue their chorus of drinking and drinking.
Scene 2: Yaroslavna's room in King Igor's palace
Since her husband, Igor, went to war, the Lady Yaroslavna sighs for loneliness, and her sadness sings an aria: "Yaroslavna's Song", and the women come to Yaroslavna's quarters, complaining of Galitsky's brutality and asking for Lady Igor's protection. It so happens that at that moment Galitsky also arrives. Galitsky again roughly drove the women away. Yaroslavna then sternly denounces his infidelity and blows her brother out of the room in a forceful manner. Just then there was a commotion all around, and King Igor's messenger ran in to report that both Igor and his son Vladimir had been captured, and that the enemy had approached the gates. The enemy sets fire to the sky behind the stage, which is colored red. The curtain fell.
Act II: The Tatar Barracks
Dusk. The Tatar maiden sings the mournful, oriental-flavored song, "The water dries up, and the flower sheds its bloom under the blazing sun," and the girls sing in chorus. Then it goes on to sing that the flowers dried up by the hot sun during the day are moistened by the night dew and are reborn again, and that the maidens have lovers as soon as it is late at night. Then came the ballet of the Tartar girls, and Konchakovna, the beautiful daughter of the Tartar prince, asked the girls to stop dancing and sang the exotic aria, "O night, lower your tents," and the Tartar maidens sang in harmony with her, saying that the hour of the rendezvous was near. At that moment the Russian prisoners finished their labor, and Konchakovna asked the girls to give them something cool. The prisoners were grateful to the Tartar girls for their affectionate care, and then departed again. When no one was around, Prince Vladimir of Igor came on to sing the aria, "O Lover, come hither quickly. He is now a prisoner, but has fallen in love with Konchakovna. Konchakovna comes on as a duet. She says, "I'm sure my father will allow me to marry you, but will your father agree? Vladimir says that father will certainly not approve of our marriage as long as he remains a captive. Hearing footsteps, the two parted reluctantly and disappeared in different directions. After a while King Igor came out of his tent. His heart sang a famous aria with the passion of intense love for the misfortunes he had suffered and for his country. The aria begins with a mournful declamation. It is then sung in a heroic and majestic manner, expressing the feelings of longing for the bravely fighting Russian army. The song sings, "At the joyous feast of wine resounds the song of victory over the enemy ......." In the middle part of the song, he tenderly sings, "You alone, are my dearest, you alone, are the one who will not reproach me unduly ......". At the end, the tune returns to the sad atmosphere of the beginning. At that moment a soldier of the Tartar army, the Christian Ovlul, came quietly forward, and he advised King Igor to flee. But Igor, on the basis of the way King Konchak had treated him since his capture, saw no need to flee. Soon it was dawn. King Konchak came in. He asked Igor why he was so silent? Igor replied, "An eagle deprived of its freedom will not live." Konchak saw that Igor was an extraordinary man, and performed all sorts of maneuvers in an attempt to bring him to his knees. He sings the aria: "Oh, no, no, friend, no, Duke ho, you are not my prisoner here," beginning nonchalantly, "You were wounded at the Battle of Cayal, and with your companions you are a prisoner ......". Then with a change of tone and bravado, he sings, "No, no, O Archduke! You are not a captive now, but my dear guest!" , and finally he sings, "Would you rather live as a prisoner without freedom on the other side of that distant Caspian Sea? If you are willing to show me your loyalty, then I have here wonderful beauties, and I will gift them all to you ......." With this he attempted to impress Igor. The Grand Duke of Igor said, "Though I am very grateful to you, I cannot understand my feelings unless you become a captive. King Konchak said, "I will release you if you agree not to be hostile to me." King Igor said, "I cannot lie, for as soon as I am freed I will be your enemy." King Konchak suggested that it would be better for us to make an alliance, and then we could rule all Russia together, and said so, laughing bashfully.
When he realized that Igor's resolve was unshakeable, he pulled in further ideas. He ordered the girls to dance for King Igor's enjoyment in the famous "Dance of the Borovets Girls". This was followed by a beautiful chorus for women's voices, "On the wings of the wind, fly back to my homeland" and a chorus in praise of King Konchak.
Act III Tatar camp.
To the melody of a march, the song glorifies King Konchak, who has triumphed in battle against Russia. King Konchak declares that the conquest of all Russia is near, now divide the spoils and distribute the prisoners. Night is a good time for drinking, bring me the slave girls, and tomorrow morning there will be a council of war, and finally ordered the guards to watch over the prisoners carefully before entering the tent. The Russian captives were very grieved when they heard that their city had been burned, their men killed, and their women raped, and expressed in chorus the necessity of trying to rescue them. Vladimir said to King Igor, "In order that Russia may not perish, make haste to escape." One by one the Tartars carried over their plunder, and brought with them many prisoners. The Russians were in a great panic, fearing that Russia would be destroyed at this rate. The Tartars drank and danced, singing "The King of Konchak, equal to the sun," and at last, being drunk and weary, they all fell asleep. Ovlul arrives quietly and reports that the horses are ready. Unexpectedly, he is discovered by Konchakovna, who says I know everything, you want to escape back to Russia. Vladimir says that it is obligatory, and begs your indulgence, and the princess, hearing this, begs to be taken with her. King Igor is shocked to see the Princess and asks her to let his son go, but Konchakovna holds Vladimir in her arms and won't let go. With time running out, Igor leaves his son behind and flees on his own. Fuming, Konchakovna immediately rings a gong and announces that Igor has escaped, ordering Vladimir to be arrested. The Tartars, pursuing King Igor just as the river was so high that they could not cross it, clamored to kill Vladimir to vent their anger, but Konchakovna protected him and said, "If you want to kill him, kill me first." King Konchak said, "If it were I, I would certainly try to escape too," so he gave orders to the guards that no one should harm Vladimir, and announced that he would marry his daughter to him. Then the Tartars shouted that they would march on Russia.
Act IV Scene 1 The walls of Putivet.
Morning. The walls of Putivi are disfigured by the fighting, and Yaroslavna appears alone by the walls, singing the aria "I would like to be like a fluttering cuckoo". Mourning her lost husband and broken country. But as she looked longingly over the plundered fields, she saw two men approaching on horseback. They were Igor and Ovruel. Reunited in joy, with the pain of longing behind them, Igor made plans to rebuild his country.
Scene 2: The Kremlin
When Igor entered the Kremlin with Yaroslavna, they met Skura and Erosica, two villains who were singing an abusive song against King Igor, and when they realized that Igor was right in front of them, they turned pale with fear, and knew that if they were arrested, they would be punished, and so they were determined to atone for their crimes. They jumped up to the belfry and rang the bell with all their might. When the people gathered and asked what had happened, the two men loudly announced to the people that King Igor had returned safely, and the people were overwhelmed with excitement and cheered, ending in songs of praise for King Igor.