Fazil Say: 1001 Night in the Harem

1001 Nights in the Harem, commissioned by the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, is a violin concerto written for Patricia Kopatchinskaja. The title recalls the famous collection of fairytale "One Thousand and One Nights", and just as Scheherazade is the tireless narrator in that work, so the solo violinist in Fazil Say's concerto takes on the role of 'principal storyteller'. The violin part is written in a highly virtuosic style and is used to hold the work together, since the solo instrument plays a cadenza between the movements, sometimes accompanied by a Turkish percussion instrument. Thus the four movements are linked to one another in intensely atmospheric unity.

Iskandar Widjaja, an enormously talented violinist with Indonesian roots. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe and regularly appears as a soloist and concertmaster with the Berlin Chamber Soloists. He is very popular in Indonesia and is celebrated there like a pop star. Young Turkish pianist Iraz Yildiz is a protégé of Fazil Say and can be seen as a rising star of the new generation of young Turkish soloists.