RCA later used their 78 rpm era scheherazade recordings on various reissues. Monteux/San Francisco turns up on this late 1950s RCA Camden release. Dorati/London on this early 1950s lp, issued twice – once with a generic cover, and once with a dancing harem figure.
Scheherazade covers are a fascinating study in sexism. Scheherazade the (hopefully fictional) character lived a horrifying life – a metaphor for the lives of women under Islam from that time until this. Yet record covers portray a young woman in a harem outfit dancing or lying around eating grapes. Exotic, attractive, and a complete whitewash of the awfulness of the actual tale.
Collecting Record Covers 