Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev)

Romeo and Juliet ( by William Shakespeare), Opus 64, is the longest and most famous ballet by Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev and is generally considered the most significant contribution to the genre. The true story of ballet follows that of the play. The libretto is the work of Adrian Piotrowski and Sergei Radlov, composed by Boris Assafjew ​​.

The work consists of three acts, each about forty minutes in length, and a ten minute epilogue. Originally it was to be given by the Leningrad Kirov Theatre in order, but after the theater management had withdrawn from the project in the short term, it the composer wrote in the summer and fall of 1935 on behalf of the Bolshoi Theatre in the guest house of the theater in Polenowo in Moscow. Premiered " Romeo and Juliet" on December 30, 1938 in Brno, Czechoslovakia. Until 1946 Prokofiev produced all three suites for orchestra and piano arrangements of some pieces.

" Romeo and Juliet" presented Prokofiev's first major composition since his return to the Soviet Union represents and is still considered to be one of the highlights of his musical creativity. The rich and diverse instrumentation, rhythmic complexity of the score still pose challenges for orchestra and dancers dar. In places such as the " word of power of the Duke " ( I, 1), " Romeo avenges Mercutio's death" ( II, 3) or the prelude resound to the third act in music dissonances on the border with atonality. The famous "Dance of the Knights" (I, 2) with its dotted, lumbering rhythms is now best known as a quasi- symphonic theme. In contrast, at the same time delicate and youthful, lively themes are love in conjunction with Juliet's awakening.

  • 2.1 complete recordings
  • 2.2 excerpts
  • 2.3 piano arrangements

Sequence of scenes

1 Overture

Act I

2 Romeo 3 The street awakens 4 Morning Dance 5 The dispute 6 The Battle 7 The Duke commands stop 8 Interlude 9 Preparations for the ball 10 Juliet as a young girl 11 Arrival of the guests 12 masks 13 Dance of the Knights 14 variation of the Julia 15 Mercutio 16 Madrigal 17 Tybalt 18 Gavotte 19 balcony scene 20 Variation of Romeo 21 dance of love

Second Act

22 folk dance 23 Romeo and Mercutio 24 Dance of the five Capulets 25 Dance with mandolins 26 The Nurse 27 The Nurse gives Romeo a letter 28 Romeo with Friar Laurence 29 Juliet at Friar Laurence 30 The festival continues 31 Another folk dance 32 Tybalt encounters Mercutio Tybalt and Mercutio fight 33 34 Mercutio dies 35 Romeo avenges Mercutio's death 36 Finale

Act Three

37 Introduction 38 Romeo and Juliet 39 Romeo separates from Julia 40 The Nurse 41 Juliet refuses to marry Paris 42 Julia alone 43 Interlude 44th cell of Friar Laurence, marriage 45 Interlude 46 Again in Juliet's chamber 47 Julia alone 48 Morgenständchen 49 Dance of the Bridesmaids 50 At Juliet's bed

Act Four ( Epilogue )

51 Julia's funeral 52 Juliet's death

Auswahldiskografie

Complete recordings

  • Gennady Rozhdestvensky ( Melodiya, 1959)
  • Seiji Ozawa ( German Grammophon, 1986)
  • André Previn (EMI 1973)
  • Lorin Maazel ( Decca 1973)
  • Valery Gergiev (Philips Classics 1991)

Excerpts

  • Ernest Ansermet ( Decca, 1958)
  • Riccardo Muti (EMI, 1982)
  • Mariss Jansons (EMI, 1989)

Piano arrangements

  • Vladimir Ashkenazy ( Decca, 1967). In 2003, Ashkenazi also for Decca, the entire ballet as a conductor.
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