An Amazing Tale With Sumptuous Melodies

Scheherazade is one of the most popular works in the symphonic repertoire. It has all the right ingredients—a beguiling tale with brilliant orchestration, ravishing melodies and many exquisite and thrilling solos from throughout the orchestra, particularly those played by the ESO’s wonderful concertmaster Julie Fischer as Scheherazade.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov based the symphonic tone poem on the old Arabian tale of One Thousand and One Nights. As the composer wrote in a brief introduction for the 1888 premiere: "convinced that all woman are false and faithless, [the Sultan] vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Scheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales for a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely."

The piece is in four movements. The first, "The Sea and Sinbad's Ship," starts with the Sultan’s theme in the lower strings and winds, calling for his newest wife to entertain him. Scheherazade, represented by a light, lyrical solo violin melody, begins to develop her tale. The second movement, “The Story of the Kalendar Prince,” opens with Scheherazade’s familiar violin line, which fades into animated passages interwoven with hints of the Sultan’s theme. The whimsical third movement, “The Young Prince and the Young Princess,” is a love story in waltz time. The Sultan’s theme, now less foreboding, introduces the agitated finale, “Festival at Baghdad; the Sea; the Ship Goes to Pieces on a Rock Surmounted by a Bronze Warrior,” which reprises and recasts many of the themes of the first three movements.