ASO’s Masterworks 2: Scheherazade

On Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, the Asheville Symphony presents Masterworks 2: Scheherazade, a musical and cultural journey inspired by the Silk Road.

The program includes Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia, De Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain, Fazil Say’s Piano Concerto No. 2 “Silk Road,” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s lavish Scheherazade.

Pianist Adam Golka returns to the Asheville Symphony for the De Falla and Say pieces. The concert takes place at 8 p.m. at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium under the baton of ASO Music Director Darko Butorac.

“The Silk Road was more than just a trade route—it was a meeting place of ideas, cultures and civilizations that brought three continents together,” says Asheville Symphony Music Director Darko Butorac. “This concert weaves together a musical journey inspired by the Silk Road, featuring the Asheville Symphony and internationally acclaimed pianist Adam Golka.”

The concert opens with Borodin’s symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia, composed in 1880 and dedicated to Franz Liszt. Borodin described the work for the original program: “In the silence of the monotonous deserts of Central Asia are heard, for the first time, the strains of a peaceful Russian song. From the distance we hear the approach of horses and camels and the melancholy strains of an oriental melody.

“A caravan emerges out of the measureless steppe, escorted by Russian soldiers, and continues safely and fearlessly on its long way, protected by the formidable military strength of the conquerors. It slowly disappears, as the tranquil songs of the Russians and those of the Asiatic natives merge in harmony, echoes of which linger on as the caravan disappears into the distance.”

The second and third pieces on the program feature guest pianist Adam Golka. The first is Manuel De Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain, which he described as “symphonic impressions.” The atmospheric work includes musical depictions of famous locations in Spain, including the Palace garden on the Alhambra hill in Granada and the gardens of the Sierra Cordoba mountains. It also evokes the Flamenco style in its rhythms and harmonies.

Golka also joins the ASO for Fazil Say’s Piano Concerto No. 2 “Silk Road.” Composed in 1994, the concerto follows the route of the old Silk Road from Tibet to Turkey and was influenced by Say’s studies of ancient Eastern folk music in the archives of the Berlin Museum of Ethnology.

The evening concludes with Rimsky-Korsakov’s enchanting Scheherazade. Composed and premiered in 1888, the piece is based on One Thousand and One Nights (commonly called Arabian Nights). It comprises four movements, which paint a vibrant musical picture of the characters and incidents in the inspirational text, with the narrator, Scheherazade, represented in virtuosic passages for solo violin.

Polish-American pianist Adam Golka (born 1987) first performed all of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas when he was 18 years old, and in 2021-2022 he performed the cycle of Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas at the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park (Florida) and at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue (NYE). He has given recitals at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Tonhalle Zürich as part of the “Sir András Schiff Selects” concert series, as well as in Tokyo’s Musashino Hall, New York’s Alice Tully Hall (presented by the Musicians Emergency Fund), and Amsterdam’s Kline Zaal in Het Concertgebouw.

Golka has recorded works by Brahms, Beethoven, and Schumann for London-based First Hand Records and has premiered works composed for him by Richard Danielpour, Michael Brown, and Jaroslaw Gołębiowski.

Masterworks 2 is made possible by concert sponsor North Carolina Arts Council and guest artist sponsor Morgan Stanley. Series subscriptions, ticket packages and single tickets are on sale now. Single tickets for Masterworks concerts are $25–75, depending on seating section (reduced youth pricing is available).

Tickets can be purchased online at ashevillesymphony.org, by phone at 828-254-7046, in person at the Asheville Symphony office at 27 College Pl., Suite 100, or at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville Box Office in downtown Asheville.