Search - Prokofiev, Salonen, Berlin Phil Orch :: Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet (Highlights)

The Romance of Shakespeare and Prokofiev: Salonen's Romeo &

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 03/06/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though Esa-Pekka Salonen's fondness and identification with the splendid ballet score ROMEO & JULIET is well known both through his performances in the concert hall and on the three recorded performances captured on CD, the magic he is able to weave from this technicolor score seems boundless. Here Salonen conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and it is obvious from the opening of the recording that the orchestra is at one with his interpretation. Salonen knows when to make the tragic parts of the story overwhelm, as in the death of Tybalt and the resignation of Juliet that she must betray her parents wishes if she follows her heart to be with Romeo and her death in the tomb: he calls forth the dissonance of the massive brass sections and percussion in the Tybalt scene to nearly intolerable intensity but the lets the soaring of the strings in the tomb scene pull at the other end of the spectrum of power - the fading away of breath.



Salonen and Berlin accomplish what other attempt in telling the narrative through well-placed segments of the various suites that exist. This 'story' flows naturally, making time for the whimsy of the street dances to the awakening of womanhood in the 'child Juliet' to the passion of the love between two accursed teenagers in love and the tension and grandeur of behavior between the Montagues and the Capulets. This is a beautifully performed and very well engineered CD of excerpts from the romance that joins Shakespeare to Prokofiev ... and to Salonen. It is a breathtaking experience! Grady Harp, March 10"