Arabian Nights Archive

ADAMS: Scheherazade.2 – St. Louis Sym./David Robertson – Nonesuch

by Audiophile Audition | Jan 17, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

John Adams’ new Violin Concerto is dramatically compelling. JOHN ADAMS: Scheherazade.2 – Leila Josefowicz, v./ St. Louis Sym./David Robertson – Nonesuch 557170, 47:35 ****: One of the characteristics that is so endearing about John Adams’ music is that it reflects the variety of emotional and intellectual Zeitgeist of our times. It can be deep and profound (The Wound Dresser), humorous (Lollapalooza), comment on politics (Nixon in China), or make a statement about a societal issue. He has showed a previous interest in portraying events from a women’s perspective—his oratorio El Nino expresses the Nativity from a women’s point of view. “How could you tell this story in the year 2000 and not have a woman’s voice?” he exclaimed. In his new violin concerto, Scheherazade.2, Adams uses the story of Scheherazade in the tales of the Arabian Nights to express his anger at violence against women in today’s culture. In 2013 the composer saw an exhibit in Paris at the Arab World Institute about the history of the “Arabian Nights” collection of folk stories. Scheherazade was forced into a marriage with a Persian king who seduced a virgin each night and executed her the following morning. Scheherazade’s clever stories delayed her […]