Romeo and Juliet

Today, largely thanks to Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, we take for granted the concept of a narrative full-length ballet in which every dance and action advances the story. Yet the idea of translating so verbal a drama as Shakespeare’s play into dance was thoroughly audacious, and could hardly have been contemplated without Prokofiev’s previous track record of writing full-length operas and symphonies, as well as ballets (albeit of shorter length) for the Ballets Russes. Given the violent quality of several of those earlier works, including his ballet Chout and Symphony No. 2 and No. 3, it was perhaps no surprise that Prokofiev brought such pugilistic power to the fight music. But his new strain of lyricism, first revealed in The Prodigal Son (1929), now came to full fruition with his portrayal of Juliet on the cusp of adulthood, and the passion of the young lovers. Prokofiev also uses instrumental colour to reflect the story’s Italian setting—most obviously mandolins, but also writing for brass in a style that evokes the Italian Banda tradition, most impressively in the cathartic grief and fury that attends the “Death of Tybalt”. Though it was originally composed in 1936 with a “happy” ending, Prokofiev scrapped this alteration to Shakespeare almost as soon as the original production got spiked. By the time discussions began in 1938 for its first, ultimately successful Soviet staging in Leningrad—for which Prokofiev eventually composed some further dances—he had already created the tragic ending in time for its first Brno staging that year.