Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra: Arabian Nights

Scheherazade is a triumph of imagination over experience. It is a feast of sumptuous colours and brilliant instrumental effects - by the man who literally wrote the book on orchestration. It quickly became a favourite showpiece and a landmark in the history of descriptive music which never fails to make an impression and to give delight. Likewise Ravel’s 'choreographic poem’ is a dizzying parody of every aspect of the waltz idiom. Brimming with lyricism and unbridled energy, Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto is his most engaging. Its angularity and brilliance, as well as the active role the orchestra takes in not only declaring but also developing the thematic material, clearly separate it from the Romantic concertos of the past. A notable feature is its ability to move effortlessly from dynamic arpeggios and vigorous, percussive themes to moments of sweeping grandeur.