IDAGIO | Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suites Nos. 1 and 2

Featuring

Gerard Schwarz
Seattle Symphony
Sergei Prokofiev

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Composition History

The concert suites from Romeo and Juliet, extracted by Prokofiev in 1936, have achieved exceptional favor and are among his most familiar compositions, even more so than the ballet itself.

Composition History

Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet was initially conceived as 'an opera without words' in collaboration with Sergey Radlov, a director at the Kirov Ballet.

Composer Biography

Sergey Prokofiev's career unfolded in three stages: starting in Czarist Russia, then living abroad in the US and Western Europe, and finally returning to the Soviet Union.

Performer Biography

Gerard Schwarz, the conductor on this album, was Music Director of the Seattle Symphony from 1985 to 2011 and has a discography of over 330 releases.

Composition History

Prokofiev's Pushkin Waltz No. 2 was commissioned by the Moscow Radio Orchestra in 1949 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Pushkin's birth.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Prokofiev cherished great works of Russian literature, especially those by Alexander Pushkin, the 'Russian Shakespeare,' and attempted to set several of his works to music.

Notable Performances

The ballet Romeo and Juliet had a difficult path to the stage, with both the Kirov and Bolshoy Ballets initially cancelling productions, before the Kirov's 1940 Leningrad production became a triumph.