Performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Judd.
A production of Romeo & Juliet at Royal Swedish Opera Photo: CC by 3.0
Selections from Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suites, inspired by Shakespeare’s famous play.
It’s a story of star-crossed lovers and doomed passion.
The background to the premiere of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet seems as doomed as the lovers and fraught with as many stumbling blocks as the storyline of Shakespeare’s drama itself. The idea for the ballet was first proposed by the Leningrad Kirov Theatre in 1934, which abruptly canned it (possibly for political reasons), before Prokofiev had even put pen to paper. Prokofiev started afresh on the idea for Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre the following year and completed a first draft of the full score, which was also canned, after the Bolshoi authorities thought the music to be impossible to choreograph and cancelled their agreement.
Determined to salvage something of worth from this wreckage, Prokofiev set about re-casting a selection of his dances into two orchestral suites which were presented during the 1936/1937 season. And a third suite followed in 1946. Another two years down the track the full ballet received its first performance in Czechoslovakia, and finally, in 1940, at the Kirov Theatre.
Despite all trials and tribulations Prokofiev experienced while creating this music, his score is now admired as one of the greatest ballet scores of all time.
Recorded 13 May 2022, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
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