Student concert »Scheherazade« Fairy tale from 1001 nights

»The Sultan Shakhriar, convinced of the falseness and infidelity of women, had sworn to have each of his wives killed after the first night. But the Sultana Scheherazade saved her life by captivating his interest, through the fairy tales she told him during 1001 Nights. Under the impression of tension, the Sultan postponed from day to day the execution of the death sentence on his wife, and at last he completely dropped his cruel decision.«

This is the background of the orchestral suite »Scheherazade«, in which the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1888 made the charm of the strange become music - music that literally absorbed the fascination of the fairy tales from »One Thousand and One Nights«. Even though the movements bear programmatic headings, and the work does indeed tell stories, the fairytale-like, oriental-colored symphonic music is intended above all to inspire the listener's imagination. The solo violin - quasi Scheherazade herself! - provides the perfect door opener for this.