Sergei Prokofiev was born in Sontzovka, in the Ukraine, on April 23, 1891, and died in Moscow on March 5, 1953. He composed the ballet “Romeo and Juliet” in 1935 and 1936, and compiled two orchestral suites in 1936 (he later added a third in 1946).
The selections from the ballet “Romeo and Juliet” to be heard at Wednesday’s Aspen Concert Orchestra performance are drawn from the three suites and do not follow the order of the full ballet. But they provide a varied selection of passages representing the principal characters and situations depicted in the ballet.
The Montagues and Capulets are, of course, the two feuding families of Romeo and Juliet, whose households erupt into street brawls at the slightest provocation. Although she is the heroine of one of the most famous love stories of all time, The Child Juliet depicts her as the young, innocent girl she really is. Friar Laurence empathizes with the two young lovers, and meets with both in an attempt to allow them to marry and resolve the family feud.
“Dance Suite” and “Masques” are part of the scene in which Romeo and his friends crash a costume ball at the Capulets because Romeo fancies himself in love with a cousin in the house, only to realize, on seeing her for the first time, that it is Juliet he truly loves. The party naturally contains several dance numbers for the guests.
Romeo and Juliet enact a glowingly passionate pas de deux when they first recognize their ill-fated love for each other. The Death of Tybalt is a short, powerfully driven fight scene that ultimately brings about the final tragedy. Although at one point Prokofiev actually wrote a version of the ballet with a happy ending (it had been lost for years, but has recently been discovered, and will be performed several days from now at a Prokofiev festival-conference at Bard College in Maine), he finally decided to adhere more closely to Shakespeare’s version of the story and have Romeo at the grave of Juliet, expressing his love and suicidal despair.
The “Romeo and Juliet Suite” will be conducted by Ingo Metzmacher at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30, in the Benedict Music Tent.
The Aspen Music Festival and School provides The Score.
