Romeo and Juliet (Op. 64) (Russian: Ромео и Джульетта) is a ballet by Sergei Prokofiev based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. Music from the ballet was extracted by Prokofiev as three suites for orchestra and as a piano work.
Contents |
Ballet
The ballet was composed in 1935 and 1936 as commissioned by the Kirov Ballet, with a happy ending, but was never publicly mounted, partly due to increased fear and caution in the musical and theatrical community in the aftermath of the two notorious Pravda editorials criticising Shostakovich and other degenerate modernists. Prokofiev's efforts resulted in suites from the music being heard in Moscow and the United States, but the produced ballet actually premiered in Brno, Czechoslovakia, on 30 December 1938. It is better known from the significantly revised version that was first presented at the Kirov in Leningrad on 11 January 1940, with choreography by Leonid Lavrovsky, to which Prokofiev objected. In 1962 John Cranko's choreography of Romeo and Juliet for the Stuttgart Ballet helped the company achieve a worldwide reputation; it had its American premiere in 1969. Chicago's Joffrey Ballet presented the first American production in the 1984-1985 season, including guest performances in New York City at the New York State Theater and in Washington, D.C. In 1965 a production that was choreographed by Sir Kenneth MacMillan for the Royal Ballet premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in which Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn brought new life to the characters, and Fonteyn, considered to be near retirement, embarked upon a rejuvenated career. Peter Martins made Romeo + Juliet on New York City Ballet to the Prokofiev music in 2007. In 2008, with the blessing of the Prokofiev family and permission from the Russian State Archive, the original Prokofiev score will finally have its world premiere, as the composer intended. Mark Morris has been chosen to direct the production and the Mark Morris Dance Groupwill premiere it in July, 2008 at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College. The production will then tour the world for two years.
- Act I
- Scene 1
- Scene 2
- No 9 Preparing for the Ball (Juliet and the Nurse)
- No 10 Juliet as a young girl
- No 11 Arrival of the guests (Minuet)
- No 12 Masks
- No 13 Dance of the Knights
- No 14 Juliet's Variation
- No 15 Mercutio
- No 16 Madrigal
- No 17 Tybalt recognizes Romeo
- No 18 Departure of the guests (Gavotte)
- No 19 Balcony : Scene
- No 20 Romeo's Variation
- No 21 Love Dance
- Act II
- Scene 1
- No 22 Folk Dance
- No 23 Romeo and Mercutio
- No 24 Dance of the five couples
- No 25 Dance with the mandolins
- No 26 The Nurse
- No 27 The Nurse gives Romeo the note from Juliet
- Scene 2
- No 28 Romeo with Friar Laurence
- No 29 Juliet with Friar Laurence
- Scene 3
- No 30 The people continue to make merry
- No 31 A Folk Dance again
- No 32 Tybalt meets Mercutio
- No 33 Tybalt and Mercutio fight
- No 34 Mercutio dies
- No 35 Romeo decides to avenge Mercutio's death
- No 36 Finale
- Act III
- Scene 1
- No 37 Introduction
- No 38 Romeo and Juliet (Juliet's bedroom)
- No 39 The last farewell
- No 40 The Nurse
- No 41 Juliet refuses to marry Paris
- No 42 Juliet alone
- No 43 Interlude
- Scene 2
- No 44 At Friar Laurence's
- No 45 Interlude
- Scene 3
- No 46 Again in Juliet's bedroom
- No 47 Juliet alone
- No 48 Morning Serenade
- No 49 Dance of the girls with the lilies
- No 50 At Juliet's bedside
- Epilogue
- No 51 Juliet's funeral
- No 52 Death of Juliet
Instrumentation
In addition to a somewhat standard instrumentation, the ballet also require the use of the tenor saxophone. This voice adds a unique sound to the orchestra as it is used both soloistically and as part of the ensemble. Prokofiev also uses the cornet and mandolins in the ballet, adding a medieval flavour to the music.
Orchestral suites extracted from Romeo and Juliet
Suite No. 1 from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64a
- Folk Dance
- Scene (the Street Awakens)
- Madrigal
- Minuet (the Arrival of the Guests)
- Masks
- Romeo & Juliet
- Death of Tybalt
Suite No. 2 from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64b
- Montagues and Capulets
- Juliet the Young Girl
- Friar Laurence
- Dance
- Romeo and Juliet Before Parting
- Dance of the Antilles Girls
- Romeo at Juliet's Grave
Suite No. 3 from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 101
- Romeo at the Fountain
- Morning Dance
- Juliet
- The Nurse
- Aubade (Morning serenade)
- The Death of Juliet...
Ten Pieces for Piano, Op. 75
Prokofiev reduced selected music from the ballet in 1937 as Romeo and Juliet: Ten Pieces for Piano, Op. 75, which he premiered himself later that year.
- Folk Dance
- Scene: The Street Awakens
- Minuet: Arrival of the Guests
- Juliet as a Young Girl
- Masquers
- Montagues and Capulets
- Friar Laurence
- Mercutio
- Dance of the Girls with Lilies
- Romeo and Juliet before Parting
External links
- Notes by Paul Serotsky
- Romeo and Juliet: production histories
- Romeo and Juliet The ballet choreography by Rudolf Nureyev
- March 7, 1985 NY Times review by Anna Kisselgoff
|
|
|---|
|
Ala i Lolli · Chout · Trapeze · Le Pas d'acier · The Prodigal Son · On the Dnieper · Romeo and Juliet · Cinderella · The Tale of the Stone Flower |
