BBC Proms 2022 - Prom 9 - The Two Scheherazades (320kbps .mp3)

Live at the BBC Proms: The BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Ariane Matiakh perform Ravel and Rimsky-Korsakov, plus harpist Catrin Finch joins for a Sally Beamish world premiere.

Presented by Nicola Heywood Thomas, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London.

01. Ravel - Shéhérazade – ouverture de féerie
01a. Introduction to Ravel’s Shéhérazade
02. Beamish, Sally - Hive (BBC co-commission: world premiere)
02a. Introduction to Beamish’s Hive
02b. Interval commentary
Following Sally Beamish’s work Hive, commissioned for this year’s Proms, in the interval Nicola Heywood-Thomas will be joined by biologist Lars Chittka - author of the new book 'The Mind of a Bee' - whose work investigates the sensory experience of bee.
03. Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade, Op 35

Catrin Finch (harp)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Ariane Matiakh (conductor)

For composers in the 19th century, the pages of the One Thousand and One Nights were a portal to a new imaginative world: a place where fantastic stories and exotic images inspired sounds more sensuous, more colourful and more magical than anything that had been heard before. Ravel and Rimsky-Korsakov both drew inspiration from the tales of the beautiful Scheherazade, and both created music that lets a full symphony orchestra weave pure enchantment: a glorious showcase for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and its charismatic French guest conductor Ariane Matiakh. Sally Beamish, meanwhile, finds stories closer to home, in a beehive-inspired premiere for ‘Queen of Harps’ Catrin Finch.

Broadcast: 21 July 2022