Any one of a dozen reasons would serve to make the composer of Kismet unique among his Broadway colleagues. He was the bastard son of a Russian prince. He was trained as a physician but published several books as a research chemist. On the side, he wrote several symphonies and string quartets, along with a couple of operas. He died in 1887, before most Broadway composers were even born. And Alexander Porfyrievich Borodin was the first dead man to win the Tony for best musical. Russian ancestry and influences are not strangers to Broadway-- the Gershwins were the sons of a St. Petersburg draft resister and Irving Berlin was born there. But Borodin lived and died in nineteenth century Russia. Perhaps his modern sense of melody derives from his politics-- he deliberately drew on the gypsy-like folk music that has reached America through several converging paths. His politics also led him to found the first Russian medical school for women, in 1872, when he was 28. He lectured there until his sudden death at age 53.
Kismet (which means "fate" in Arabic) was adapted by Robert Wright and Chet Forrest from Borodin's music and a 1911 hit play by Edward Knoblock. The play, which was filmed twice, most notably with Ronald Colman and Marlene Dietrich, is about a beggar poet and his daughter, the Caliph who is in love with the daughter, the wicked Wazir and his sexy wife who is in love with the poet. The musical was originally produced in 1953 for the Los Angeles-San Francisco Light Opera Company, and it went on to Broadway later the same year. It won several Tonys and ran almost two years, before moving to London for an even longer run. There was an M-G-M film, and the show has been revived many times. Two of the songs, "Stranger in Paradise" and "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads" have become standards. When produced with an all black cast headed by Eartha Kitt, the setting was moved to Islamic Africa and the title was changed to Timbuktu. The success of the show and its lasting value are surely due to the remarkable suitability of Borodin's rich instrumental melodies for adaptations as theater songs.
There are many good recordings of Kismet, including the original Broadway cast and revival, both with Alfred Drake, and two of the best-- both from England-- have just been reissued. John Yap recorded the complete score for TER in 1989, and it is now available in the U.S. on his JAY label. The sound and balance are impeccable, the full orchestra, chorus, and soloists are excellent, and the two cds contain the entire score, with all the reprises and instrumental passages. As bonus tracks, Yap recorded the additional songs written for Timbuktu and the M-G-M film.
In 1963, English Decca recorded the score in "Phase Four Stereo", and it has been reissued on compact disc here on the London label. The symphony-sized orchestra was conducted by Mantovani, the Mike Sammes singers provided the chorus, and Wright and Forrest supervised the sessions. The Phase Four sound is as good as any present-day recording, and although it is not as complete as the JAY set, the London disc has marvelous performances by Regina Resnick as Mrs. Wazir, Robert Merrrill as the beggar, and Ian Wallace as the Wazir. The performers on both albums do full justice to Borodin's music, but those on the English Decca add a nice theatrical dimension.
I've had both of these records since their original issues. I would be unwilling to part with either.