Sheherazade

There will be a Starter prior to this concert. You can attend this in the Swing on the second floor to the left of cloakroom. 

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

As a poet, for Stéphane Malarmé, language was the main medium of artistic expression. But his words harbored much more. For those who read them, they immediately evoked imaginative images. And those who heard them experienced the music that emerged from the sound and cadence of the spoken text. Consequently, many French composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries felt strongly drawn to Mallarmé's poetry. Such was the case with Claude Debussy. He turned the poem L'après-midi d'un faune into a brilliant musical illustration and perfectly captured the sultry atmosphere in which a faun in the hot midday sun dreams of sensually beautiful nymphs. It was the dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky of the famous Ballets Russes who some time later used the music for a ballet. In his inimitable way, he managed to transform into movement the subtle eroticism that speaks from Mallarmé's words, but certainly from Debussy's sounds.

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D (1930)

The tragedy for concert pianist Paul Wittgenstein took place on Aug. 23, 1914, at the beginning of World War I. He was a soldier in action. As a soldier in action, he was hit by a bullet in his right arm, resulting in an amputation. He saw his musical career go up in smoke but did not resign himself. With enormous willpower, as well as his great fortune as the scion of a very wealthy family, he managed to persuade composers such as Britten, Prokofiev and Richard Strauss to write compositions for him that he could play with his left hand. In March 1929, he also approached Ravel with a request for a piece written especially for him. The composer prepared thoroughly, studying a range of pieces for the left hand including the notoriously difficult École de la main gauche (school for the left hand) by piano pedagogue Czerny. The result was a one-movement concerto for piano and large orchestra, which Wittgenstein, however, struggled with. Especially the jazzy elements rather disliked him, but gradually he got used to it, although he got quite fond of Ravel's notes. This became clear when, during a private performance, he played the piano part to Ravel, revealing that he had completely mangled it, added and deleted bars, altered harmonies and melodies, and greatly expanded the grand cadenza at the end with additional virtuoso passages. Ravel was furious and demanded that Wittgenstein retrace his steps. The latter gave in, but things never quite settled down between pianist and composer. The fact is, however, that of all the left-hand works Wittgenstein had commissioned, Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand was the only one to become truly popular.

At intermission we will serve a free drink.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)

Sheherazade, op. 35 (1888)

- Largo e maestoso - Allegro non troppo

- Lento - Andantino - Allegro molto - Con moto

- Andantino quasi allegretto - Pochissimo più mosso - Come prima

- Allegro Molto - Vivo - Allegro non troppo maestoso

When Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov presented his symphonic suite Sheherazade, based on the story series One Thousand and One Nights, to the public in late 1889, it was a hit. Russia was a vast country, large areas of which in the southeast belonged to Islamic culture. By the end of the nineteenth century, interest in this was already growing throughout the country, especially in the major cultural centers like Moscow and St. Petersburg. Add to this the refined and colorful orchestration in which Rimsky-Korsakov was a grand master, and success was assured. This was evident from the enthusiasm of the audience at the premiere. They enjoyed the beautiful Sheherazade who night after night managed to defrost the harsh sultan with her enchanting stories. Originally, each part had one of those stories as its subject. The introduction tells of Sinbad the sailor, followed in the next quick part by the merry story of Prince Kalander. The third part is sultry and romantic in nature and tells of the passionate love between Prince Kamar al-Zanna and Princess Budur. The finale is a rendition of the great feast in Baghdad. Over it you can regularly hear the themes of both main characters: the sultan's stern chords and Sheherazade's lyrical solo violin. Afterwards, Rimsky-Korsakov decided to delete all references to persons and stories, all the more so since many melodies and motifs are repeated and varied in all parts and therefore there is really no question of four separate narratives. 'All I wanted,' he later wrote in his autobiography, 'was for the listener to appreciate the piece as symphonic music that leaves the impression of an undoubtedly oriental tale consisting of many wonderful fairy tales.'

Kees Wisse