What a great choice for this video. My favorite interpretation of all the ones I've seen. And the director is wonderful. He has composed at least 40 wonderful symphonies. A true creative machine. I love it when he starts screaming hahaha. Ah... when you hear a rhapsody on a Paganini theme by Sergei Rachmaninov or his concerto number 2 for piano and music you will be amazed.

@tesseract5421

4 ай бұрын

Leif Segerstam has actually composed 371 symphonies as of now!! I believe he holds the world record of most composed symphonies ever.

@DavidImiri

4 ай бұрын

Yes, Rachmaninov piano concerto #2!!!

@Nidels

4 ай бұрын

@@tesseract5421 This man is brutal. And on top of that, they sound very good. Thanks for the information. He knew there were a lot of them but I haven't heard it in years.

Hey man, I’m a professional violist who is lucky enough to make my living playing in an orchestra - just wanted to say that if you ever want to ask any questions about orchestral instruments, music, or the musicians creating it I’m happy to answer them and chat with you. It’s very exciting and rewarding to see a newbie to my world engage with it with such careful attention and sensitivity. You are the ideal audience member in my mind!! I don’t know where you’re located, but the classical music world is small and I’m sure I could find someone who can get you tickets to your local orchestra so you can see a live concert :)

@JustJP

4 ай бұрын

Really appreciate that Sebanovic! I'm sure many more will pop up, and probably the same ones occasionally 🤭

@radone5896

3 ай бұрын

There are many more younger people coming to my local symphony hall for the past few years. Does their very casual dress and insistence on clapping after every movement bother the players or are you just glad they show up, or some of both?

@Sebanovic5

3 ай бұрын

@@radone5896 dress? I literally could not care less. Come in sweatpants; I know I wish I could wear them on stage!! Clapping? Anytime people are clapping it’s probably because they feel moved. That’s a success in my book. I would hope they at least wait for the conductor to lower their arms, but if they don’t know about that gesture, they’ll quickly learn and it means they’re new, which is exciting!

@radone5896

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for your perspective @@Sebanovic5

I've been saying i found my new favourite classical piece every month for the past 10 years😂😂 I can never quite make up my mind because I always discover new ones

@JustJP

4 ай бұрын

🤭

Magnificent! From the opening notes, you know you're in for an adventure. I love how he passes the main melody from one instrument to the other. Everyone gets to be featured. And, in between each movement is the violin with the main theme. That's the Princess Scheherezade narrating the stories. I think every film score about ships on the high seas owes a debt to this piece. Thanks, Justin.

I am 66 years old, I first heard Scheherazade in 1966 on a 78 record my mother played, I loved it then and has been my favorite since!!!!!!

Suggestion: Ravel's Ma Mere L'Oye (Mother Goose). Ravel was commissioned to write the music for the ballet of the same name. Absolutely gorgeous suite of music about 30 minutes long IIRC.

@ChrisEchoes

4 ай бұрын

Really good suggestion, the finale of it so magical.

@Ziad3195

4 ай бұрын

Oh, please some Ravel would be incredible! He only did a really bad performance of Bolero.

My first exposure to Scheherazade was in 1970 at the Seattle Center Fountain. My high school basketball team was in Seattle competing for the state championship, and being in the pep band I got a weekend in Seattle and free admission to the basketball games in support of the team. We spent the day sight seeing at the Seattle Center and the highlight for me was the classical music they played at the fountain, Scheherazade in particular. The first opening bars stuck in my mind ever since. Truly memorable

19th century tone poems are my favorite classical music, and Rimsky-Korsakov composed some of the best of them. This is a fantastic piece, no doubt about it. As a follow up, I highly recommend his "Capriccio Espagnol", which I think is hands down his best work ever.

What a great reaction. Any fan of rock should be able to relate to this piece -- it's got the intensity, the melodies, the changes. And as you mention, very accessible. That recurring violin solo is the sound of Scheherazade, as she composes herself gracefully to start the next tale, or is pleading desparately for another day of life. My mother would play this in the house when I was 7 or 8. The early exposure to classical music has changed my life. (btw- Did my jaw drop! I am honored)

So many times musical climaxes are thunderous and bombastic (and I love that). However, I love how this musical climax is basically one violin, often on one string, often one note. It is incredibly effective and beautiful. I also like how Russian composers write for the clarinet.

At 9:26, that’s the late John Aigi Hurn. RIP to a legend.

Rimsky Korsakov had Stravinsky as a pupil. Check out "The Firebird" to hear his influence on Strav.

Had he lived at the right time, Rimsky-Korsakov would surely have won an unbeatable number of Oscars.

In Montréal I saw an outdoor performance at night at Olympic Park by the Montréal Symphony WITH an accompanying performance by the Cirque du Soleil who acrobatically enacted the story of Scheherazade (the stories Scheherazade kept telling the Sultan over the course of the 1001 nights that kept him from executing her at dawn because he wanted to know how they turned out; he eventually falling in love with Scheherazade). EXTRAORDINARY!

@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering

Ай бұрын

I was lured here by the story … timeless and magisterial.. and the musics right up there too 👌 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

11:17 - Notice the female violinist and her look of approval at the gentleman violinist. The entire orchestra is magnificent.

@JustJP

2 ай бұрын

Nice catch Karl!

That violin solo that cuts in at 3:21, Scheherazade’s own theme throughout the piece, is indeed magical. Once you hear this music, you’ll recognize it anywhere. It’s possibly my wife’s favorite classical piece. It’s definitely a late 1800s Russian piece. Although they’re by different composers, you can hear similarities between this and, say, Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” or Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” (The latter is definitely recommended for a future reaction, although it’s another long piece that you might need to break up into pieces.)

Loved this piece as well. I am most familiar with the first movement and was captivated by the entire performance. How about some love for the camera people who know exactly where to put us as we listen to these great pieces of music. Great reaction.

Great choice. I would also heartily recommend my two favorite classical pieces, "Symphonic Dances, Op. 64" by Grieg, and Beethoven's 7th Symphony.

@DavidImiri

4 ай бұрын

Yes, Beethoven's 7th!!!

Never heard it with the vocals in the shipwreck before. Stunning.

@ftumschk

4 ай бұрын

It's not in the score, of course, but Leif Segerstam can do the most unexpected things!

I jumped the gun and listened to this earlier over brekkie... A beautiful piece, and one of his most well known. And not without good reason.

That was beautiful! It reminded me of my childhood. My mom used to listen to 'Scheherazade' on vinyl and I haven't heard it in 40+ years. And as you pointed out, I heard some Iron Maiden galloping riffs, some Slayer chugging riffs/grooves and also caught some Wizard Of Oz in there. I wonder if this piece influenced any of those.

Thanks for continuing to delve into some classical music JP! This is a very approachable piece, good for beginning listeners to get into, but for deep diving classical fans it never gets old!

@JustJP

4 ай бұрын

Happily!

Amazing reaction, thanks so much for the watch! I'd never listened to this whole performance, only knew about the screaming from some clips lol You had some questions, here are a couple answers :) 1. Yes, that was a bassoon! 2. Yes, the second chair 1st violinist did turn the page for the concertmaster (the solo violinist). String players (except basses sometimes) sit two to a stand. The person closest to the center of the stage (inside) always turns the page for the other player (outside). You'll see the winds and brass sit one to a stand, so they turn their own pages. 3. The difficulty of switching from the bow to plucking depends on the music. There are definitely some quick switches here, but string players have lots of methods and tricks for this sort of thing. 4. Hitting the bow on the music would indeed be very bad for the bow. They're stopping the swing a good distance before the music, it's just the angle that makes it seem like that :)

@JustJP

4 ай бұрын

Awesome Silv! Appreciate the info :) Ty ty

Well that was fun but I was late to the party and missed all the music. Still good to catch Justin and see so many of the regulars in chat.

I should have figured that Santa Claus would only accept and lead a white-tie affair, and while the audience may have been casual, the orchestra was white-tie all the way. This was my best experience of the masterpiece, an adventure which began around 1970, lying on the floor of my parent's house, with speakers pushed up to my ears, listening to this, Stravinsky, King Crimson, Yes, ELP, Tomita, Ummagumma, and any weird thing I could get my ears on...including Annie's wondrous version. That first trumpet was amazing (I played one in band) and if you squinted, he kinda resembled you, I think. Do you play? Dat you? Thanks again for this treat.

I love rock music (especially progressive rock), which is steeped in western classical music influences - which I also love. I'll keep an eye out for your classical stuff, Justin. Thanks for this one.

I've been ill and not home for a while. So I haven't commented for quite some time, but this is a singular morning! Since I have spent "A Thousand and One Nights" listening to this, haha! Peace, Health, and as always Love.

@JustJP

4 ай бұрын

Hope you're keeping well James! You've been missed

I'm so glad you did this, and so glad you loved it this much. This is one of the big crowd pleasers in the classical repertoire, and it's obvious why. Such sweeping scope and mastery of melody, and you don't have to know anything about classical composition or think about it at all to fully appreciate it. Some classicos turn their noses up at it for these reasons, but that's snobbery - it's just a sheer soul-satisfying romp, and classical at its finest. Always one of my favorites, never fails to thrill, it was amazing to see in concert, and it must have been the piece that sold more people on orchestral music than any other. Btw, I know I mentioned this more than once, including in your long songs intro video for this month - to recommend a particular performance, which you didn't use, but just as well, this is as good as any rendition, and maybe even tops it. Leif Segerstam is definitely one of the greatest conductors of all time, and he's Finnish, despite conducting a Spanish orchestra here - and therefore appreciated for his renditions of Sibelius. He always slows things down a lot, compared to other conductors, drawing out the details in his stately renditions, as he did here (apart from that last movement) - this is the longest run time I've seen for this piece. Works better for some works than others, but usually a great approach, as here. Those shouts aren't even a part of the composition, just his own brilliant addition - amazing! And this isn't a symphony, it's usually called a symphonic suite. That's why it weaves the themes and motifs throughout, usually done in opera, but just not done in proper symphonic form - the movements are expected to be completely distinct, and typically never reprise themes in later movements. Maybe a flaw in symphonic theory? This works even better I think, and is usually the case in symphonically influenced prog for instance. This work stands on the shoulders of the bulk of the compositions of the romantic period (my favorite, and it seems yours), coming in relatively late in the era. Beethoven opened it up, considered as bridging "classical" and romantic, and in my view, Sibelius closed it out, considered as bridging romantic and modern. But Scheherazade may well be the crowning achievement of the romantic period. Wonderful work, wonderful performance, wonderful reaction. Thank you! And next? How about a return to Beethoven - you need to hear the 7th! Or when you're ready for more Sibelius, try the 3rd or 7th. I might also recommend Saint-Saëns 3rd (Thundering Organ) symphony, Vivaldi's astonishing Four Seasons, or Bach's unmatched Brandenburg Concertos.

Suggestion: “An Alpine Symphony” by Richard Strauss, 1915. It’s a ~50min depiction of the experience of climbing a mountain from early morning before sunrise to after sunset the next night. It is one of the most impressive and cinematic “tone poems” ever composed. Follow along with the movement titles in the program (there are 22 of them lol) and you will hear how vivid a picture is painted of each particular scene (ex. Mist rising on a lake, flowering meadows, an epic tempest, etc.)

You make great choices, there are few reactions from Dvorak and Korsakov on KZread, suggestion: the Brazilian composer Villa-Lobos (considered by many to be the greatest classical music composer in the Americas) try the work ''Bachianas Brasileiras 4'' with the Simon Bolivar orchestra

Great piece. Probably his masterpiece. I wouldn't put it top 20 in the standard rep that symphonies play year round, but it's still great for sure. That was a nice performance too.

I've listened to countless versions of this ever since my Dad first played it to me around fifty years ago, but I've never heard the shouting in the last movement before - and yeh, it kind of works!! 😅 Nice work once again JP!!

Totally grew up on all of this . I knew Scheherazade by heart by age 3. A few years later learned the story behind it, and loved it even more. (Along with The Nutcracker). Great choice Justin. (This one is being played a bit faster than the one I remember.)

@DavidImiri

4 ай бұрын

Only the last movement - the others are slower, and the run time longer, as per usual for Segerstam. The fierce velocity of that last movement here is quite out of character for him - a real reversal, and very effective!

My late wife was not "into" classical music, but she liked Scheherazade. RogerC 3/23/24

Great reaction JP, I always loved this piece, and I prefer Russian classical composers in general, notably Tchaikovsky, Korsakov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and Borodin, you should actually listen to Borodin's Prince Igor next very exciting piece and not as lengthy if you're just getting use to classical you should go for a somewhat shorter piece.

Santa is a conductor? Talk about multitalented!

After Peter and the Wolf this was my favorite "story" piece of music when I was a kid.

I've listened to this beautiful piece well over 100 times including half a dozen live performances and I have never heard yelling before. I looked up from my bowl of cinnamon crunch and said "those are some crazy Spaniards." 😂 I know JP has already heard the Renaissance version but never posted a reaction. I wouldn't presume to compare them except that both are top notch and extremely accessible.

@JustJP

4 ай бұрын

Lol!

@DavidImiri

4 ай бұрын

@@JustJP Hey, it's not too late for a reaction/review of the Renaissance version, it doesn't have to be a first listen...

One of my favorites. If I may be a bit self-indulgent, I would like to recommend another of my favorites: The Pines of Rome by Respighi.

Thank you for this Justin. I hadn't heard this arrangement before, did you know the conductor is Finnish? This is my favorite classical piece right up there with the Hungarian Rhapsody by Liszt and Piano Concerto 14 by Mozart.

Hi JP. DP from UK. I agree with you - it's a wonderful piece of music. I have it on record and have seen it live a few times. There are many Things I Don't Understand about it, but the main thing is how Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov injects so much colour, energy, tenderness and drama into this and his other work, such as his operas and orchestral suites. He is one of the all-time great orchestrators. P.S. my song ref Things I Don't Understand is by Renaissance, which finishes with the ascending motif from the first and last movements here.

@joebloggs396

4 ай бұрын

Didn't he write a book on orchestration as well? He must have influential.

@gaiaeternal5131

4 ай бұрын

You're right, Joe. He also taught musical composition and influenced and helped many other composers.@@joebloggs396

You will love Brahms' symphonies!

I love this piece so much I called my cat Razade !

@JustJP

4 ай бұрын

Nice!🐈

I have a request for a reaction. One of my favourite orchestral compositions, is "Pictures at an Exhibition" from Modest Moussorgsky (arranged by Morice Ravel). If you want a good recording, I recomment: Pictures at an Exhibition (complete) / Modest Mussorgsky / Semyon Bychkov / Oslo Philharmonic. It is a wonderful piece of art and you have done a reaction to ELPs homage/version of it. So it would fit very well.

You should have a look at the two Fantasia movies by Disney. Beautiful animations inspired by classical music pieces.

I'd love to see your reaction to Bach's Brandenburg concerto no 3, I think you might be suprised by it

Try listening to The 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky . My Father was listening to this piece of classical music from an Album he had when I was younger and it’s a Beautiful Piece of Music and I Highly Recommend it for you or anyone else who likes this kind of music. I’m Sure You’ll Get A Blast Out of It No Pun Intended if you actually do a reaction to this piece of Classical Music ! Enjoy it 😉😉😉👍👍👍❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I have a classical recommendation for you - "Turangalila Symphony" composed by Messiaen

It is brilliant , just watched the IOM Orchestra perform this, took my breath away. I would recommend Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi playing Piazzolla`s `Oblivion` One of the most beautiful performances by a musician on KZread kzread.info/dash/bejne/qmmjqblvm9mWaKQ.html

It might have been useful to glance at the story before or during the piece to understand what the music was illustrating. Maybe Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, or his later Rite Of Spring, which were written for ballets, and also groundbreaking musically. Parts of the music score to the movie Ben Hurr remind me of Scheherezade. One piece that probably influenced some eerie music for suspense or horror films is the 1st movement (Andante Tranquillo) of Bela Bartok's "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste" . For something beautiful, there's Samuel Barber's "Adagio For Strings". These both are around 9 min. long.

@DavidImiri

4 ай бұрын

Yes, Samuel Barber's Adagio For Strings!!!

@altforauditions9279

3 ай бұрын

He already has a video in which he reacts to the Rite of Spring

This is like when's Indiana Jones gonna pop out with his lady he saved at the pyramlds Soundtrack Score or snore I can't tell My introduction to classical music was Classical Gas n Francis Lai Love Story lp This sound can slip out of nowhere like Laguna Sunrise on a Black Sabbath lp Kansas Moody Blues Journey Yngwie Malmsteen ELP Yes Jethro Tull King Crimson Yanni. Enya all music has its place on a Beatles solo In My Life U never know where the format can arise but here no ELO Roll over Beethoven😢

INSTANT SUBSCIBE FINALLY SOMEONE REACTS TO THIS YESSS (watching your YMO reaction rn so I knew you had good taste, now please react to Haruomi Hosono ❣)

If you like metal, you have to check out some Shostakovich pieces :)

Wait, I got name checked by a reactor? Damn, I think that was the first time ever.

@JustJP

4 ай бұрын

I got you ;)

Absolute artistry but not my bag. For rich emotional strings I prefer Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue', for sheer bombastic effect Tchaikovski's '1812 overture.' Melody rules! Of course there's always Renaisance's take on 'Schererazade?'

So this version or Renaissance's version?

@DavidImiri

4 ай бұрын

Grilled Salmon or Filet Mignon? Beethoven's 9th or Gates of Delirium? Those two Scheherazades are an apple and an orange - I could never choose.

Just to avoid this getting buried. If you ever do the Grieg, do the *Arthur Rubenstein* version. It took him 88 years to perfect his interpretation, but it was worth it. kzread.info/dash/bejne/e2WN0duzZsKyn9Y.html (There's an even better old mono recording of him playing the piece in the 50's, if you want to go digging further later on.)

I agree with the word "accessible" though it isn't for me (apart from the shouting). As much as I loved reading the _1001_ _Nights_ as a kid, and as many times as I've listened to this piece, and though I find absolutely nothing to fault here in either performance or Segerstam's direction, this composition embodies everything that I loathe most about the Romantic era (the bankrupt legacy on which too much of today's music still clings)... motives representing characters, over-dramatic shifts, introduction of intriguing but undeveloped themes that go nowhere, Disneyesque cutesiness, bridges that seem unnecessary, maudlin oversentimentality that makes me feel forced, etc. That's just me, though. I imagine that this may have seemed very fresh at the end of the 19th century, and perhaps being able to get into Nijinsky performing the ballet version might have blurred some of my discomfort, but at the time I expect I was too short to be admitted on that ride.

I'm guessing your parents never played classical music for one reason or another. Mine didn't, either. I first heard classical when I was 12 years old delivering newspapers and had to collect every Saturday. I then discovered that other people did. What's really weird is that my mother was into Big Band Jazz like Glenn Miller before I was born (and shortly thereafter). Every parent should make sure their children are exposed to classical music, especially Bach. He is the father of everything. But if you want an adventure, go way back to renaissance music!

@JustJP

4 ай бұрын

Nope- Jazz, RnB, & Soul is what filled my house growing up :)

She tells a story every night, but you have to wait till tomorrow to hear the end (thus presciently creating the soap opera before there was even TV to play it on). Point is that you heard the stories without the words. The music must be working. :D Here's the brief Wiki version. (The only one I know TBH). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights (I think I had a FLAC file of one of the movements performed by the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra, once, but I don't know my way round the piece well enough to have accurate memory of it. Yes, it's very lovely, but wait till you hear the Grieg Piano Concerto in A Minor - the only one, I think, but if I'm wrong I think that identifies it. Well according to me, anyway, as one blind man to another, but this one is maybe heading toward a ditch, and we're all going to fall in.) What I find is that for just listening well enough to enjoy the music (as opposed to completely grok it) all it really takes is a bit of the usual repetition. If the first time you hear something you don't feel like you got it all entirely, that tends to be a sign that next time it's going to get better, and so on, seemingly _ad infinitum_ as we say in Ancient Rome. So no need to apologize for not knowing the kind of things it takes years of working at the Conservatoire, or struggling for words late at night as critic for some publication that needs whatever words you have available tomorrow, and no later, to get to know. (It's nice when someone with such knowledge shares it in a gracious manner, but both those things are rare so can't just be expected.) For some prog rock by a classical composer, try The Swan of Tuonela by Sibelius. Nice short piece for the hastier listener, but packed with lots of good stuff, as I think they'd say in the advertising world?