Tales of a Thousand and One Nights

Thursday Concerts, symphonic — Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherezade performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Krzysztof Urbański.

National Philharmonic Orchestra, Krzysztof Urbański, for. Grzesiek Mart

What if, for one evening, the boundaries between reality and imagination disappeared? Tales of a Thousand and One Nights lead to a world full of sensuality, mystery and desert landscapes, where each theme becomes a story woven from dusk to dawn.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the father of orchestration, which dominated the imagination of many artists and audiences until the first half of the 20th century, was famous for his unprecedented color imagination, which he embodied through the medium of the symphony orchestra. His Scheherazade, inspired by the Tales of a Thousand and One Nights, became one of the greatest evergreens of classical music almost immediately after its premiere. It was created long before the birth of sound cinema, and yet to this day it impresses with the breadth of narrative and imagery that inspired many creators of film music.
The Scheherazade remains an extraordinary and multi-layered work, a suite full of fairytale narrative, psychological tension and 19th-century notions of the Orient. Rimsky-Korsakov, however, stressed that he did not care to literally illustrate the story. Over time, he became increasingly irritated that the audience treated the piece as program music, becoming too attached to individual titles and scenes. Rather, the composer's intention was to trigger the imagination, to create music that evokes an atmosphere of mystery, adventure and a story that eludes unambiguous meanings.
The National Philharmonic Orchestra has for years been one of the most outstanding symphony ensembles in Europe, valued for its virtuosity, precision and extraordinary sound culture. Under the baton of Krzysztof Urbański, Scheherezad Rimsky-Korsakov acquires additional intensity, dramaturgic tension and cinematic momentum. Urbański is recognized as one of the most charismatic contemporary conductors, and his interpretations are renowned for their energy and exceptional finesse in extracting nuances of the orchestra's sound.

Maria Peryte