Programme:
Borodin – In the Steppes of Central Asia
Saint-Saëns – Piano Concerto No. 5 (‘The Egyptian’).
Intermission
Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade
Conductor: Jose Aparicio
Soloist: Shan Liu (Piano)
For centuries, composers have looked beyond their own borders to create musical journeys. In this concert, the Nelson Symphony Orchestra invites you to travel to deserts and distant cities, and hear fantastical tales from faraway lands.
Our concert opens with Alexander Borodin’s musical landscape poem In The Steppes of Central Asia. Written for – but not actually played at – the silver jubilee of Emperor Alexander II of Russia’s reign, the piece intertwines Russian and Asian melodies, with three main musical ideas: a ‘steppe’ background motif depicting the vast plain, the Russian soldiers’ theme, and the shimmering Eastern melody of the central Asian caravan traders.
Teenage piano sensation Shan Liu, a student at Auckland’s Westlake Boys High School and one of New Zealand’s most promising young musicians, takes us further south for Camille Saint-Saëns’ colourful Piano Concerto Number 5. Written while the composer was in Egypt, the piece, subtitled ‘Egyptian’, is an exotic reflection of the East inspired by the Nile, distant temple chants, and warm North African nights.
After the break, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s beloved orchestral showpiece, Scheherazade, draws on the magical stories of the celebrated Arabian story collection One Thousand and One Nights. The vengeful Sultan, convinced of the duplicity of all women, vowed to execute each of his wives after the first night, until he marries the young Scheherazade, who protects herself from death by telling him interconnected tales for 1,001 nights. Listen out for the Sultan’s heavy brass theme from the first movement slowly merge with Scheherazade’s beautiful violin and harp voice as bitterness turns eventually to love in this fascinating fairytale.
From the steppes of Central Asia to the banks of the River Nile and the magical mysterious East, this rich programme celebrates music’s power to transport us to wonderlands anywhere the world – no passport required.
