Scheherazade
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Scheherazade, Op 35 (1888, arr. piano, Etsuko Hirose)
Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877-1952)
Oriental Ballet Suite: Thousand and One Nights, Op 37 (publ. 1928)
Etsuko Hirose (piano)
rec. 2024, Théâtre Georges-Leygues, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France
Danacord DACOCD985 [71]
The liner notes say that as a “mystic realm tinged with the scent of foreign spices, bewitching music, vivid colour and sensual delights […] Orientalism sparked a new wave of romanticism in Western art in the 19th century.” One of the drivers of this interest were translations of the Thousand and One Nights, also known as The Arabian Nights, into various European languages. Antonine Galland’s French edition was published over the years 1704-1717; John Payne’s multi-volume English editions in 1882-1884; and Richard Burton’s in 1885-1888.
The Arabian Nights is an enormous collection of Middle-Eastern folk tales compiled in the Islamic Golden Age. One of the core tales is that of Scheherazade, an intelligent woman who tells captivating stories to her husband, King Shahryar, to postpone her execution. Each night, she leaves a story unfinished, so that the king spares her life to hear more. The tales include the well-loved Aladdin’s Lamp, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. The Arabian Nights are rich with themes of adventure, magic, love and justice, and they often reflect the culture and values of the medieval Islamic world.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was long fascinated by the “mythical orient”. His most popular work is the orchestral Symphonic Suite: Scheherazade, inspired by four stories from The Arabian Nights. The movements are The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship, The Story of the Kalendar Prince, The Young Prince and the Young Princess and Festival in Baghdad – The Shipwreck on the Rocks. The underlying stories are easily found on the Internet.
The work features brilliant orchestration, exotic themes and dramatic musical storytelling. It is a fine blend of Eastern influences and Western symphonic tradition. Leitmotivs for Scheherazade and the Sultan gives continuity to the Suite. Pianist Etsuko Hirose has made a wonderfully evocative version for piano solo, true to the original. The romantic movement The Young Prince and the Young Princess is especially delightful, and the final movement, describing the shipwreck, rises to a Lisztian power and drama.
There arises the question of appeal. Would one want to hear a piano version of this well-loved work, or would they stick with one of the myriad recordings of the orchestral score? I see two reasons why one should buy the disc. I was really listening to the music, and not just allowing it to wash over me, so I heard things in this performance that have eluded me over the past half century. And it is not just a transcription, but a faithful recreation: Hirose has developed a truly pianistic score.
Polish pianist and composer Sergei Bortkiewicz, born in what is now Ukraine, studied at the Imperial Conservatory in St. Petersburg and later at the Leipzig Conservatory as a student of Alfred Reisenauer and Salomon Jadassohn. His music is romantic, with rich harmonies and melodic beauty. He wrote many piano pieces, including concertos, preludes, etudes and sonatas. They are admired for their technical demands and expressive depth. Sadly, despite some revival on disc in recent years, Bortkiewicz’s works remain relatively unknown, except to enthusiasts of the genre.
I am beholden to the liner notes for information about Bortkiewicz’s Oriental Ballet Suite: Thousand and One Nights. It was published as a piano solo piece but the composer later orchestrated it. Speaking of his time in Constantinople, Bortkiewicz recalled: “One suddenly feels transported to ancient times, one forgets the present and believes that one is experiencing a fairy tale from 1001 Nights come to life. It would be too much to describe all the beauties of this fairytale like country.”
The Suite has ten contrasting movements. The opening Caliph Haroun-al-Rashid reflects the potentate’s power with fanfares. The Story of the Poor Fisherman evokes the magic of the genie out of the bottle. The Dance of the Young Girls is wistful, dreaming, perfect. The Oriental Dance fairly zips along, with a lovely reflective trio section. ‘Hammer Horror’ sonorities infuse The Enchanted Castle. There follows a melancholy tribute to Zobeide and to her two sisters who were turned into black dogs.
The track listing names the seventh movement as a Dance of Mourning but the score gives it as a Dream Dance. There is little grieving in these pages. It is possibly the loveliest number in the suite. The Three Sisters return in a lively Allegro with its chattering progress which reflects on the Talking Bird, the Singing Tree and the Golden Water. A Bacchanal, neither too wild nor too drunken, leads into The Wicked Magician Escapes from the Bottle. Fll of dramatic pianistic effects, it brings the Suite to an end.
Japanese classical pianist Etsuko Hirose began playing the piano at age three, and performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.26 at six. After studying in Paris, she won first prize at the 1999 Martha Argerich Competition, launching her solo career. She has also ‘received the guidance’ of Alfred Brendel, Marie-Françoise Bucquet and Jorge Chamine. Hirose has performed at prestigious venues worldwide, including the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Her interpretations of Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt are particularly acclaimed by critics for their depth and sensitivity.
Helpful liner notes in English are included. There is a long resume of Etsuko Hirose’s distinguished career.
I enjoyed this disc as it evoked the delights of a Thousand and One Nights and their heroine, Scheherazade. The pianist has created lovely performances of enchanted music that will appeal to lovers of fairy tales of all ages.
John France
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