Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov News

On Saturday, the Monterey Symphony, under the baton of Music Director and Conductor Max Bragado-Darman, plans to present in Salinas '2,002 Arabian Nights,' orchestral works based on the tales of Scheherazade, the fictional storyteller of '1,001 Arabian Nights.' The program includes Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" and Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk performing selections from Hector Berlioz's "Les nuits d'ete" ( "Summer Nights") and Maurice Ravel's "Sheherazade." Additional performances for these selections will be offered in Carmel on Sunday and next Monday. The stories that form '1,001 Arabian Nights' are framed by the tale of Scheherazade and the Persian ruler Shahryar. The king takes a new woman as his wife each day, letting her live for just one night and killing her the next morning so that he may wed again. Scheherazade escapes this fate by telling her husband a story each night and omitting the end until the next evening. Her skill as a storyteller and her ingenuity lasts 1,001 nights, at which point the king, madly in love, spares her life. Concerts will take place at 2 p.m. (final rehearsal) and 7 p.m. Saturday in Salinas at the Performing Arts Center of the Steinbeck Institute of Art and Culture (Sherwood Hall), 940 N. Main St. Tickets are $15 for the final rehearsal and $20 for the evening concert. Student and group rates are available. Contact Yvonne Strub at 831-645-1121 or ticketing@montereysymphony.org for more information on discounted rates. The Carmel concerts take place at the Sunset Theater, Eighth Avenue and San Carlos Street, at 3 p.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. next Monday. Tickets for these concerts range from $28 to $78. A pre-concert lecture will be offered, free of charge, one hour before each concert. These lectures offer intriguing facts and historical information about the composers and pieces to be performed. In introduction to the concert program, The Friends of the Monterey Symphony will host a luncheon at Pasadera Country Club, on Pasadera Road off Highway 68, at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, sponsored by Don and Paula Lindsay. Singer Semenchuk will be the guest speaker. Make reservations online at www.monterey symphony.org/special-events. The February Supper Club will be hosted by Cantinetta Luca in Carmel at 5:45 p.m. Sunday and Monday. Proceeds from these events benefit the Monterey Symphony. For dinner reservations, call Rosalind Roser at 831-645-1122.

Of the great Russian symphonic composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was probably the most influential, not only for his nationalism, but for his prowess as an orchestrator.