Sergei Prokofiev ‒ 10 Pieces from Romeo and Juliet,

Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953), 10 Pieces from Romeo and Juliet, (1937) Performed by Igor Roma (2007) 00:00 - No. 1 Folk Dance 03:53 - No. 2 Scene 05:20 - No. 3 Minuet 08:33 - No. 4 Young Juliet 12:23 - No. 5 Masks 14:37 - No. 6 Montagues and Capulets 18:01 - No. 7 Friar Laurence 21:15 - No. 8 Mercutio 23:15 - No. 9 Dance of the Girls With Lilies 25:41 - No. 10 Romeo and Juliet Before Parting The ballet Romeo and Juliet was suggested to Prokofiev during a visit to Russia in 1934 by the then director of the Leningrad State Academic Theatre. Political changes led to the rejection of the proposal, but it was eventually accepted by the Bolshoy in Moscow, though Prokofiev was induced to change the happy ending. Completed in 1936, it was eventually given its first stage performance in Brno in 1938. Prokofiev had, meanwhile, drawn concert suites from the score and in 1937 made piano arrangements of ten pieces, published as Opus start with Dance for the people in 6/8 and a duple-time Scene from the first act. A relatively stately Minuet is followed by a lively depiction of Juliet as a young girl, in an ante-room in her father’s house accompanied by her amiable and fussy old nurse. The masked ball, marked Andante marciale, that follows is to bring the lovers together for the first time, while the ominous music of the feuding families, The Montagues and the Capulets, familiar now in other contexts, is used in the ballet for the Prince’s command and a dance of the knights at the Capulet ball. Friar Laurence, whose well-meaning intervention is the direct cause of the tragedy, is portrayed in soothing terms, followed by the rapid and whimsical humour of Romeo’s kinsman Mercutio. The elegant Dance of the Girls with Lilies seeks to wake Juliet on the morning of her proposed wedding with Paris and the ten pieces end with the sad parting of the lovers.