Hello God!
Thank You for Rimsky-Korsakov.
What’s the surname! “Rimsky” in Russian means “Roman” and “Korsakov” is about “Korsak” means “steppe fox”, with this happy connection “Rimsky-Korsakov” two great persons, brothers Voin and Nicolai are inspiring me today.
Rimsky-Korsakov Archipelago was named after commander of schooner Vostok – Voin Rimsky-Korsakov, I did not know about this fact and I am astonished by it. Voin was 22 years older than Nicolai. Nicolai is the great Russian composer, and I know where his music comes from. His brother was his navigator!
Can you imagine that the officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, then the civilian Inspector of Naval Bands is writing “Practical Manual of Harmony” and composing 16 operas and 17 works for symphony orchestra and difficultly countable chamber, piano music, romances! So it is all about Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
I invite you to Scheherazade Archipelago, we are going to unknown enigmatic islands in the ocean of music.
“Scheherazade” is a symphonic sea we are floating in with the fairy tales from “One Thousand and One Nights”. Her portrait by Pavel Ivanov (Paul Mak), Shéhérazade is impressed. The violin voice – voice of Scheherazade is mesmerising, please close your eyes, our journey begins!
The poem is structured in four movements, our islands of the archipelago, which originally were untitled but later were given names by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s student Anatoly Lyadov.
We are immersed in the waters of the first island.
The Sea and Sindbad’s Ship starts with the deep, formidable voice of the Sultan in the winds and strings, calling for his newest wife to entertain him. He convinced that all women are false and faithless, vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night.
Scheherazade tries to save her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales, represented by a light, lyrical solo violin melody, begins to develop her tale.
The next island is The Story of the Kalandar Prince opens with Scheherazade’s violin line. The Kalandar was rich Prince who gets shipwrecked by a Magnet Mountain and had a lot of troubles with women and forty keys to the forty doors, Scheherazade will tell you someday.
The Young Prince and the Young Princess is about love story. The third island hugs us by the melody of youthfulness and joy. We are whirling in waltz, circling around beautiful man and woman in love.
Arriving to the forth island we are celebrating – “Festival at Baghdad; the Sea; the Ship Goes to Pieces on a Rock Surmounted by a Bronze Warrior”. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely. The Sultan falls in love with Scheherazade!
The finale is agitated, it seems every vibes around are full of joy, with every movement of bows of strings and every breath of winds instruments we are full of love of life.
Thank you, for this gift to share with you this happiness to open unknown and beautiful. Our journey to Scheherazade Archipelago was fantastic experience!
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