Shéhérazade, a song cycle of three poems for (mezzo) soprano (or tenor) and orchestra (or piano), was completed in 1903 by French composer Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937). The songs are based on the exotic texts of the French poet Tristan Klingsor, and evoke Persia of days gone by. I have a strong preference for the female voice in this work, and an even stronger preference for the orchestral version rather than the piano. The average playing time is 15 minutes (AllMusic). I ahve a handful of versions, of which the best is clearly by Elly Ameling and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Edo de Waart on a Philips CD.
