Ravinia 2022, Issue 2

Lawn Clippings By John Schauer Léon Baskt’s costume design for the Blue Sultana in Sheherazade Risqué Business RIMSKY-KORSAKOV ’s brilliant orchestral suite Sheherezade is a veri- table symphony of tone poems, spec- tacularly orchestrated by a composer whose treatise on orchestration is still consulted today. But that’s hardly the only reason this work has left a multi- media legacy. First, there’s the literary source, a collection of Indian, Persian, Egyp- tian, and Arabic tales assembled under the title One Thousand and One Nights. On each of those nights, the harem girl after whom Rimsky-Kor- sakov named his masterpiece spins a fantastic tale to distract her hus- band, a murderous ruler who has the habit of marrying a long succession of women and then executing them. Right there you have themes of sex and violence, something that will crop up again in the music’s history. Rimsky-Korsakov was coy on the subject of which tales he was trying to tell musically, and in his memoir confesses to an “aversion for seeking too definite a program in my com- position.” Yet, on the advice of fellow composer Anatoly Lyadov, he did include titles for each movement that suggest inspiration by specific stories. But which ones? Most editions of what is popularly called The Arabian Nights include only a small sampling, but being a “completist” by nature, I long ago took on the challenge of finding one that includes all 1,001 of them. I set my sights on the translation by Richard Burton (the 19th-century writer and scholar, not the actor twice married to Elizabeth Taylor), since his was one of the first that didn’t censor the erotic elements. In fact, some critics complain that he exaggerated the sexual content, which made me more determined than ever to find a copy. I eventually found one, and it makes War and Peace look like a pamphlet—three huge volumes totaling nearly 4,000 pages. I’ve barely made a dent in it, and have yet to find those naughty passages that made this translation so notorious. As far as identifying Rimsky’s sources, I’ve also come up short—the composer’s titles are too vague. “The Story of the Kalender Prince”? There are three sto- ries titled “The Kalender’s Tale.” And which “Young Prince and Princess”? There are hundreds to pick from. This didn’t stop the music from being dramatized 22 years after its 1888 premiere, when impresario Serge Diaghilev was wowing Parisian audiences with his presentations of Russian operas and ballets. One of his most successful was Michel Fokine’s 1910 staging of Sheherezade , which created a sensation for three distinct reasons, none of which had to do with Rimsky-Korsakov’s music. Probably the most lasting impact of the production was made by the sets and costumes designed by Léon Bakst, an explosion of blazing colors that made him a household name. As Jacque-Emile Blanche wrote, “The first performance was an important evening for the theater, for dress- makers, for interior decorators, for jewelers, and for all branches of deco- ration.” No other stage production has ever influenced the decorative arts so thoroughly, in every- thing from textiles to wallpaper. But the big at- traction for Parisian ticket-buyers was the legendary dancer Vladislav Nijinsky, then still in the ascendance of his meteoric career trajectory and himself no stranger to scandal. One rumor claimed he was able to become a permanent member of Diaghilev’s troupe only because he resigned from the Russian Impe- rial Theaters following a scandal that arose when a member of the impe- rial family was shocked by the sight of Nijinsky dancing without the supportive undergar- ment customarily worn by male dancers. Then there was the blatant erot- icism of the ballet’s scenario, which had nothing to do with nightly narrations. Diaghilev scholar Charles Spencer called it “the quintessence of Diaghilev’s first period—the Rus- sian-Oriental phase, with its combi- nation of sumptuous design, sex, and violence. …The orgy scene, when the ladies of the harem take advantage of their husband’s absence to indulge themselves with a band of muscular negroes, aroused cries of uninhibited delight. Similarly, when the culprits were discovered and the Sultan took his bloody revenge, the audience was driven into ecstasies.” It’s no surprise the composer’s widow (he died in 1908) was dismayed by the use her husband’s music was being put to. Rest assured Ravinia’s July 15 per- formance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop will be family-friendly, with no R-rated content. To paraphrase The Rub á iyat of Omar Khayyam , another Persian literary source, it will be a perfect opportunity to relax under a starlit sky and savor a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and a platter of assorted meats, cheeses, chips, dips, and pastries. And, of course, that magnificent music. John Schauer is a freelance writer who survived sweltering summer days during his childhood by sipping lemonade while listening to Sheherazade on the family phonograph. CENSORED RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 4 – JULY 17, 2022 20