Conducted by Reginald Burston
The story of Antar as musically illustrated by Rimsky-Korsakov in this symphonic poem, one of his early works, runs briefly as follows:
Antar, a somewhat Byronic figure.
'has retired to the desert, hating his fellows and disgusted with the world. He rescues a gazelle from the clutches of a monstrous bird. The gazelle turns out to be the Fairy Queen, Gul-Nazar, who, in gratitude, appears to Antar in a dream and promises him life's greatest joys.
In the second movement Antar, granted the Joy of Vengeance, proceeds to make use of it. The music is brassy and ferocious.
In the third movement Antar is experiencing the Joy of Power. The music is triumphant and brilliantly coloured, in the style of a march.
The fourth movement is taken up with the Joy of Love, to which Antar surrenders himself in the arms of Gul-Nazar herself. In the end he dies, intoxicated with love, in her embrace.
One or two of the tunes employed by the composer in the course of the work are genuine Arab melodies.