Scheherazade didn't tell stories because she loved storytelling. She told stories to stay alive — weaving one tale into the next, night after night, keeping the sultan hooked until he forgot to execute her. She was the original cliffhanger artist. The first showrunner.

Rimsky-Korsakov heard that and wrote one of the most cinematic, sensual, and adventure-filled works in the entire orchestral canon. Four movements. A solo violin that plays Scheherazade herself — threading through waves, shipwrecks, festivals, and lovers' embraces. It sounds like the films we watch today, except it was written in 1888.

The concert opens with Saint-Saëns' Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila — six minutes of pure orchestral seduction, setting the atmosphere before Scheherazade takes over and holds you for the full 45 minutes. This is music for anyone who has ever been completely lost in a story. It ends, and you'll want to hear it again immediately.

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Scheherazade: 1001 Nights in 90 Minutes

Artelize Hall

During the annual Elisabeth Week, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra celebrates a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. This year’s guest is Sergei Redkin, second prize winner in 2021. Redkin takes us through the music of Prokofiev, a highlight of his repertoire. He performs the Third Piano Concerto – a dynamic dialogue between pianist and orchestra, culminating in a fiery finale. Under the baton of Valentin Uryupin, an expert in Russian repertoire, the orchestra also brings to life Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade, a symphonic poem full of vibrant orchestration and the sensuous world of One Thousand and One Nights.

Elisabeth week: Sergei Redkin & Sheherazade

Queen Elisabeth Hall

Vilde Frang with ANPO

Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall

Guest performance Bad Kissingen | Kissinger Sommer

Max Littmann Hall

Viotti, Gabetta · Saint-Saëns, Rimsky-Korsakov

Wiener Konzerthaus

The symphonic suite Scheherazade, inspired by fairy tales from One Thousand and One Nights , is one of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's most effective and successful works. Written in 1888, the composer uses dazzling instrumental colors to take up Persian stories and his music depicts a fantastic oriental fairy tale world. In the first half of the concert, the Spanish conductor Pablo Mielgo will perform works from his homeland. In addition to Joaquín Turina's string piece La oración del torero, Manuel de Falla's Nights in Spanish Gardens for piano and orchestra will be heard. De Falla was inspired by the painter Santiago Rusiñol, who colorfully captured impressions of the incomparable beauty of Spanish gardens in his paintings. The real reason why this work was written is none other than to evoke places, moods and feelings , said the composer in 1916. The solo part of the Symphonic Impressions will be performed by the young Spanish pianist and winner of the Cleveland International Piano Competition Martín García García.

5th Philharmonic Concert / Hot Nights

Volkstheater Rostock - Big House

A second program in the Vienna Musikverein and the Dortmund Konzerthaus with works by Ravel, Elgar and Rimsky-Korsakov will be linked to the "Jeanne d'Arc" tour in December. The hr Symphony Orchestra and Alain Altinoglu will present Maurice Ravel's "Une barque sur l'océan", Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade". Gautier Capuçon will be the soloist in Vienna, and Julia Hagen will interpret the Elgar Concerto in Dortmund.

Dortmund Concert Hall

Konzerthaus Dortmund

Vienna Music Association

Vienna Music Society

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra has been one of Britain’s leading orchestras for several decades, collaborating with such conductors as Neeme Järvi and Marin Alsop. Our own chief conductor Elim Chan is also the orchestra’s first guest director. The soloist on this occasion is the Australian violinist Ray Chen, the laureate of the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition, who has become one of the world’s most in-demand violinists since then. He will perform Tchaikovsky’s phenomenal Violin Concerto, which is widely regarded as the most beautiful concerto of its kind in the classical repertoire thanks to the brilliant melodies. This will be followed by more virtuoso violin sounds in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade. A superb orchestral suite that succeeds in conjuring up the world in the fairytales of Arabian Nights.

Nikolaj Rimsky-Korsakov

Events

Past events

Apr 25, 2026

Scheherazade: 1001 Nights in 90 Minutes · Artelize

Jan 24, 2026

Elisabeth week: Sergei Redkin & Sheherazade · Antwerp Symphony Orchestra

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