‘Belgian National Orchestra, Schønwandt & Beilman’

Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in D draws no inspiration from the great works of the repertoire, such as the violin concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms. The titles of the four movements refer to Bach, and the music itself reflects that as well. 

Scheherazade is undoubtedly the most famous work of the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Inspired by the Tales of One Thousand and One Nights, he penned this four-movement symphonic suite in the summer of 1888. The solo violin embodies Scheherazade, the Persian woman who manages to postpone her execution day after day by telling exciting stories. Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite does not tell specific stories, but it does evoke an imaginative, orientalist fairy-tale world.