RNCM Symphony Orchestra: Scheherazade

For Scheherazade, stories were the key to her survival. Across a thousand and one nights she captivated the Sultan with her gift for spinning tales.

Each story earned her another day of life. The Sultan, who had been in the habit of executing each wife after their wedding night, could not resist her cleverly told cliffhangers. Night after night, he spared her until he eventually fell in love and declared her his true queen.

Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphony, inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, offers us a glimpse into these legends, with the violin itself embodying Scheherazade’s voice. But what are the stories that sustain us today? If we could tell them, what would we say?

RNCM Poet-in-Residence, Louise Wallwein, will be working with the students to explore these very questions. Together, their words – stories of our city and our time – will be read between each movement of Scheherazade, anchoring our own narratives within the musical imagination of an ancient tale.

The storytelling journey begins though with Zimmermann’s Märchensuite, where forgotten fairy tales glow with impressionist colour. A darker chapter then unfolds with Dvořák’s The Noon Witch, reminding us that not every tale spares the innocent.

Louise Wallwein is an award-winning poet, playwright, and performer from Manchester. This year, she joins the RNCM as Poet-in-Residence for our Legends and Lore theme, working with students to explore storytelling through music. Her plays have been broadcast on BBC Radio Drama North and staged by companies including Red Ladder, National Theatre Wales, Z-Arts, Contact, Arena Theatre Melbourne, HOME Push Festival, Domestic II, and the Royal Exchange. She has also performed at major festivals such as BBC Contains Strong Language, Hay, Edinburgh Fringe, Hull 17, Outburst Queer Arts Festival (Belfast), and the Melbourne International Book Festival.

Programme
Bernd Alois Zimmermann Marchensuite (Fairy Tale Suite)
Antonín Dvořák The Noon Witch *
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade Op 35

Performers
Christoph Altstaedt, Jacobus de Jager * conductor
Louise Wallwein poet
RNCM Symphony Orchestra