Scheherazade comes to town

The Bay of Plenty Symphonia will perform for the only time this year, next Sunday at Baycourt. Photo: Supplied

Arabian nights and fantastical tales will create an afternoon of spellbinding music next Sunday afternoon.

More than 50 musicians will take to the stage at Baycourt to bring a big symphonic programme of late romantic music, with full brass and a mighty percussion section, just right for seeing off Covid gremlins.

The big orchestral concert from Bay of Plenty Symphonia will be their only performance this year, thanks to previous Covid 19 cancellations.

"The players of the region's community orchestra are excited at last to entertain music lovers with ‘Scheherazade and Other Tales' and are expecting a big audience at Baycourt," says a Bay of Plenty Symphonia spokesperson.

"This concert will appeal to all ages, with thrilling musical interpretations of some famous legends and fairy tales."

Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Scheherazade' is a major work, portraying the story-telling heroine who keeps her husband amused with fanciful tales through 1001 Arabian Nights. All the family will enjoy meeting Sinbad the Sailor and sharing his adventures on the sea.

In the overture to Humperdinck's popular opera, 'Hansel and Gretel', the children encounter a wicked witch and her gingerbread cottage – but everything ends peacefully. By contrast Grieg's 'Peer Gynt Suite No.1' follows the Norwegian peasant's journey through the mountains, finally cavorting with trolls in the hall of the mountain king. Mussorgsky's 'Night on the Bare Mountain' tells the story of a witches' Sabbath - a wild party ending at dawn.

Scheherazade is the beautiful heroine of ‘1001 Arabian Nights' - a centuries-old collection of middle eastern folk tales. Scheherazade outwits her husband, the Sultan, by entertaining him night after night with her enthralling stories to avoid being beheaded after her wedding night like the Sultan's previous wives.

Rimsky-Korsakov's music includes depictions of some of her tales, including the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor – listen out for the waves, the storm and the shipwreck! The orchestra's brass and percussion sections have plenty to do here. Linking the stories together is an evocative solo violin representing Scheherazade herself. This challenging part is played by the Symphonia's concertmaster, Rebecka Beetz, who has somehow found time to work on it in her busy schedule as Mum and freelance translator.

Music Director, Justus Rozemond will conduct the 50-plus piece orchestra in these fantastic musical stories, which include those of Hansel and Gretel, Peer Gynt and his adventures with trolls in the Hall of the Mountain King, and a witch's Sabbath in Night on the Bare Mountain.

Scheherazade will be performed at 3pm on Sunday November 22 at Baycourt. Tickets cost $15 adult; $12 Senior; $2 under 18. Service fees apply.

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