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.
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[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
- 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
- Folk Dance
- Scene (the Street Awakens)
- Madrigal
- Minuet (the Arrival of the Guests)
- Masks
- Romeo & Juliet
- Death of Tybalt
[edit] Suite No. 2 from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64b
- The Montagues and Capulets
- The Young Juliet
- Friar Laurence
- Dance
- Romeo and Juliet Before Parting
- Dance of the Antilles Girls
- Romeo at Juliet's Grave
[edit] 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...
[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.
- 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
[edit] External links
| Ballets by Sergei Prokofiev |
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 Ala i Lolli | Chout Trapeze | Le Pas d'acier The Prodigal Son | On the Dnieper Romeo and Juliet | Cinderella |
