Polovtsian Dances
Despite this justification, there is reason to maintain the traditional sequence. Act II contains most of the numbers for which the work is known today, with Igor's brooding and impassioned aria ("Oh give me freedom") at the center, flanked by Vladimir's cavatina and Konchak's aria, not to mention the rousing conclusion provided by the "Polovtsian Dances." Moving its wealth of arias and dances from the center of the work to near the beginning may weaken the opera's structure.