Rimsky Korsakov - Scheherazade [Ozawa-Wiener Philharmoniker]Just recently i seem to have had a nice dose of Scheherazade, earlier this month [5th April 2010] i enjoyed Maazel playing this work, i really do like this work, i bought this disc as it had such a wonderful cover shot on the booklet [by Fernando van Teylingen], this is a major factor in my disc buying!.
I've heard good and bad about the conducting of Seiji Ozawa, the jury's out in my corner, Ozawa is not a youngster anymore, he will be 75 this year, and at the moment he is out of action receiving treatment for cancer, this is a live recording from 1993, applause at the start and end of the work, [and coughing in between!].
The second movement, 'The Story Of The Kalander Prince', teems with all sorts of orchestral colours, like a flashy bird of paradise on display, one of the things i notice about this movement, is the extensive use of the piccolos/high woodwind, halfway through the piece there's this chattering of the piccolos/woodwind [6:24-6:30 & 6:53-6:59], a very nice device, before and after this there are two wonderful episodes where the strings throb in low pizzicato mode, the first is with an atmospheric solo cor anglais [4:38-5:18], and the second is probably the highlight of the movement, this time with piccolos making a blast on a few notes, and the bassoon replying in an extended tune [7:04-7:54], this is done three times, each time the piccolos sound more anxious, a wonderfully mesmerising flash of storytelling by Scheherazade.
Here's the start of the 2nd movement, conducted by Kurt Masur on YouTube.
