Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev)

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Romeo and Juliet (Op. 64) is a ballet by Sergei Prokofiev based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Music from the ballet was extracted by Prokofiev as three suites for orchestra and as a piano work.

Contents

[edit] 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. 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.

Act I 
Scene 1
No 1 Introduction
No 2 Romeo
No 3 The street awakens
No 4 Morning Dance
No 5 The Quarrel
No 6 The Fight
No 7 The Prince gives his order
No 8 Interlude
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

[edit] 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.

[edit] Orchestral suites extracted from Romeo and Juliet

[edit] Suite No. 1 from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64a

  1. Folk Dance
  2. Scene (the Street Awakens)
  3. Madrigal
  4. Minuet (the Arrival of the Guests)
  5. Masks
  6. Romeo & Juliet
  7. Death of Tybalt

[edit] Suite No. 2 from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64b

  1. The Montagues and Capulets
  2. The Young Juliet
  3. Friar Laurence
  4. Dance
  5. Romeo and Juliet Before Parting
  6. Dance of the Antilles Girls
  7. Romeo at Juliet's Grave

[edit] Suite No. 3 from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 101

  1. Romeo at the Fountain
  2. Morning Dance
  3. Juliet
  4. The Nurse
  5. Aubade (Morning serenade)
  6. The Death of Juliet...

[edit] 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.

  1. Folk Dance
  2. Scene: The Street Awakens
  3. Minuet: Arrival of the Guests
  4. Juliet as a Young Girl
  5. Masquers
  6. Montagues and Capulets
  7. Friar Laurence
  8. Mercutio
  9. Dance of the Girls with Lilies
  10. Romeo and Juliet before Parting

[edit] External links

 v • d • e Ballets by Sergei Prokofiev

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
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