Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade is one of the most popular suites in the entire orchestral canon. The work’s imperishable melodies and sonorities were an influence on Stravinsky and have been referred to by innumerable cinema composers ever since. The musical narrative draws on The Arabian Nights, appealing to the imagination with its haunting beauty and enchantingly exotic atmosphere. The entire world of Bedřich Smetana’s beloved opera The Bartered Bride is captured in the Overture, the rousing nature of its dances a further celebration of Czech national resurgence in the 19th century.