Fiery Bulgarian-born guest maestro Petko Dimitrov will conduct a romantic repertoire with the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra (RSO) at the Anne S. Richardson Auditorium to kick off Valentine’s Day weekend. The program includes one of the most recognized pieces ever written for orchestras and adapted for use in sports, film, and TV : “Scheherazade.” Dimitrov will also lead RSO’s world-class, professional musicians in Wagner and Schumann. Concert Conversations, with renowned musicologist Michael Lankester, kicks off the evening at 7 p.m. before the 8 p.m. program starts. For tickets ($25-$60), call the Box Office at 203-438-3889, or order online at ridgefieldsymphony.org.
What do Olympic figure skating, film and TV, competitive marching bands, and golf all have in common with the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra (RSO)?
They’ve all finessed winning adaptations of Scheherazade, about an Arabian Sultan’s bride who spins bewitching stories for him over “1,001 Nights.” When she employs these “bedtime” stories to enchant and distract her husband, (who beheads each of his wives) he spares her and all wives thereafter. The best-known music interpreting this centuries-old folk legend is mysterious, exotic, sexy, and grand, and has become a symphonic blockbuster familiar to many audiences.
Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov’s mesmerizing Scheherazade will be the climactic finale of the RSO’s next concert, “Redemption through Love,” on February 13, 8p.m. at Ridgefield High School’s Anne S. Richardson Auditorium.
Scheherazade accompanied two recent Olympic gold medals in figure skating for Americans, including the first ever in ice dancing. Millions watched in 2014 as Meryl Davis and Charlie White took gold in Sochi, Russia, with a flawless and romantic long program. In 2010, Evan Lysacek won men’s gold in Vancouver, skating to the piece. And the sport’s most decorated athlete, world champion and Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan “became” Scheherazade numerous times.
Countless film and television productions have used this music, in live action, ballet, and even cartoon versions, attesting to its universal appeal. On TV, Scheherazade has been heard on soundtracks for shows as diverse as “Six Feet Under” and “Animaniacs.” On the Drum Corps International circuit, top-ranked Santa Clara Vanguard performed huge, sweeping shows to Scheherazade, finishing top ten in 2004 and 2014.
Even the British Open, not just one of professional golf’s Majors, but also an international Brass Band Festival, was won by an arrangement of Scheherazade. Clearly, it’s a masterpiece that appeals to the musical mainstream as much as it does to the classical aficionado.
It’s plain these artists and athletes understood the ability of Scheherazade to lift audiences out of their seats with bold and powerful changes of tempo, rhythm, and dynamics. But the short snippets heard in a skating program or a film score have nothing on the thrill of hearing a live professional orchestra’s performance of the entire piece, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, no less.
With Schumann and Wagner works opening the show, and fiery, Bulgarian-born maestro Petko Dimitrov, former RSO Assistant Music Director returning to guest conduct, this program makes for a stirring and romantic Saturday night out on the most romantic weekend of the year!
More of the fascinating backstories of these immortal works are in RSO’s Concert Conversations with renowned musicologist and entertaining storyteller Michael Lankester, free to all ticketholders and running from 7-7:30 p.m., prior to the 8 p.m. concert start.
For more information about the RSO, visit ridgefieldsymphony.org, or call the box office at 203-438-3889. The Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit professional arts organization. Come hear live music!
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