Alexander Borodin was a chemist and physician who composed music in his spare time. Despite this limitation Borodin wrote quite a lot of very good music. The music in the movie Kismet is based on various compositions by Borodin. The popular song Stranger in Paradise from Kismet is based on a theme from the Polovetsian dances of Borodin's opera Prince Igor. Borodin wrote three symphonies, of which his 2nd Symphony, presented herein, is the most popular. Evgeny Svetlanov, a Russian conductor with a genius for conducting Russian music, gives an outstanding performance of this symphony on this CD. Also included is Borodin's attractive Petite Suite. Recommended.