Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

In the symphonic suite “Scheherazade”, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov leads us straight into the tales of Thousand and One Nights: There was once a sultan named Shakriar, who decided to kill each of his wives at dawn after each wedding night. But the girl Scheherazade managed to save her life by telling wonderful tales in “a thousand and one nights” and falling asleep carefully just when something so exciting was going to happen that the sultan had to let her live to hear the next part. Rimsky-Korsakov’s ability to color his music is impressive, and in Scheherazade he has created an extraordinarily entertaining work. Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali leads the orchestra.

A recording from January 2022.