Performing Arts: Ballet

Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet

Born in Sontsovka, Ekaterinslav, in 1891, Sergei Prokofiev was widely known for his virtuosic piano-playing abilities. His adeptness with the keys contributed greatly to his compositions, and at the age of 23, his first piano concerto won the Rubinstein prize. Prokofiev studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory under the tutelage of well-renowned musicians, including Liadov and Rimsky-Korsakov.

Prokofiev's music often includes satirical and classical elements, as well as evokes primitive emotions. His impressive repertoire includes a number of ballets such as Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella, eleven operas such as War and Peace and The Love for Three Oranges; the Scythian Suite for orchestra; a fairy tale for children entitled Peter and the Wolf; the Sarcasms piano pieces; and several violin and piano concertos, symphonies, piano sonatas, and songs.

Prokofiev lived in exile for some years before he settled in Moscow in 1934. Although he received the Stalin Prize in 1951, his music was often under censure by Soviet authorities for what was considered anti-democratic elements. Prokofiev died in 1957, on the same day as Joseph Stalin, and his Seventh Symphony was posthumously awarded a Lenin Prize.

Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet is still considered one of his best works. But why did the Russian composer decide to create-—in the footsteps of Tchaikovsky's symphonic poem, Daniel Steibelt's opera, and Constant Lambert's ballet score—yet another rendition of Shakespeare's popular tragedy? As revealed in Prokofiev's Autobiography, the composer had been paying more and more attention to lyrical aspects of his music, and a score based on Shakespeare's dramatic Romeo and Juliet would allow him to fully explore this lyrical element. Indeed, Prokofiev composed themes or motifs to express certain emotions, to signify the appearance of particular characters on the stage, and to depict certain events. These motifs would reoccur throughout the score, and this unifying characteristic of the music contributed in part to its eventual success.

The ballet was not immediately successful, however. After the Kirov Theater decided not to go through with its production, Prokofiev's score was set to premiere at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater in 1935. But when he presented his score to the Theater, he was told that his music would be difficult to dance to and that his original version, which ended with the reunion of Romeo and Juliet, was not successful. After some cajoling from choreographers, Prokofiev altered the finale to remain in keeping with Shakespeare's tragic ending. As a result, the dancers could effectively express the characters' grief alongside the music.

Even after all this, Prokofiev's ballet was criticized by his dancers, but nevertheless, Prokofiev had presented his piece to theatres in Europe and the United States in an effort to encourage a full production of the ballet. (The First Suite had already been performed in Moscow and the United States.) His efforts proved fruitful on December 30, 1938, when Romeo and Juliet premiered in Brno, Czechoslovakia. Two years later, the ballet--with choreography by Leonid Levrovsky--debuted at the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad, where it was well-received. Tatjana Gsovsky's elegant choreography ranked her 1948 production as a milestone in the performance history of Romeo and Juliet. But John Cranko's choreography for the Stuttgart Ballet in 1962 helped the ballet achieve worldwide success.

A production of Romeo and Juliet choreographed by Sir Kenneth MacMillan premiered in 1965 with the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. In this production, the famed dancers Rudolph Nureyev and Margo Fonteyn brought new life to the characters of Romeo and Juliet.

Choreographer John Neumeier's innovative production in 1971 marked an interesting turning point in the choreography of Prokofiev's score. Inspired by particular psychological elements of the story and incorporating symbolism in his choreography, Neumeier added and revised certain scenes. For instance, Juliet first appears getting out of her bath in bare feet, symbolizing her youth and her new emergence into society.

Other significant and well-received productions of Prokofiev's score include the version choreographed by Erik Bruhn, which starred Carla Fracci and Erik Bruhn and premiered in Rome in 1966 at 11 Teatro dell'Opera, as well as a version with the London Festival Ballet, choreographed by Rudolf Nureyev and starring Patricia Ruanne and Rudolf Nureyev, which premiered in the Coliseum in London in 1977.

Prokofiev also arranged orchestral suites and solo piano music based on his ballet score. Although his original versions remain some of his most dramatic works, many conductors today have chosen to include movements of the suites in the ballet score to fully represent the dramatic unfolding of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.