Adaptations
A ballet adaptation of Sheherazade premiered on June 4, 1910, at the Opéra Garnier in Paris by the Ballets Russes. The choreography for the ballet was by Michel Fokine and the libretto was from Fokine and Léon Bakst, who also designed sets and costumes. The widow of Rimsky-Korsakov protested what she saw as the disarrangement of her husband's music in this choreographic drama.
Sergei Prokofiev wrote a "Fantasia on Scheherazade" for piano, which he recorded on piano roll.
Passages from the symphonic suite Scheherazade were also adapted for the ballet scene that closes the motion picture Song of Scheherazade, in which the lead actress, Yvonne De Carlo, was also the principal dancer. The plot of this film is a heavily fictionalized story, based on the composer's early career in the navy. He was played by Jean-Pierre Aumont.
It has also been arranged for clarinet in B♭ and piano by Oriol López Calle, keeping the E major key and giving the clarinet the solo violin role and a constant dialogue with the orchestra which is represented by the piano.
Michelle Kwan skated to an arrangement of Scheherazade during 2001-2002 figure skating season, winning the Bronze medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics and the Silver medal at the 2002 World Figure Skating Championships. Yuna Kim also skated to an arrangement of the music during the 2008-2009 figure skating season, winning the 2009 World Championship and becoming the first woman to break the 200-point barrier in the ISU Judging System.
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