Highlights from Prokofiev’s great Romeo and Juliet ballet music and Sibelius’s thrilling violin concerto.
Young American talent James Gaffigan is making his Sydney Symphony debut, and for this first meeting he’s chosen “colour repertoire” – music that exploits the full orchestra in the way that the French and the Russians know best.
His own suite from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet follows the original narrative, bringing together the highlights of this dramatic ballet. The scene is set with the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, and there’s the youthful ardour of the balcony scene and the hot-blooded duels, before the music ends, as it does in the theatre, with Juliet’s death – tragic and sublime.
Sibelius’s Violin Concerto is equally sublime – powerful drama, spinning melodies and catchy rhythms, all combined in blazing virtuosity. There’s no Finnish saga winding its way through this music, but the journey to the rollicking finale is no less exciting.
The concerto is perfect music for Sergey Khachatryan, who at 15 became the youngest-ever winner of the Jean Sibelius Competition.
BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No.2
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto
PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet: Suite
James Gaffigan conductor
Sergey Khachatryan violin
Pre-concert talk by Natalie Shea in the Northern Foyer, 45 minutes before each performance.
Hear Tchaikovsky’s take on the Romeo and Juliet story (27, 29, 30 July).
AUDIO PLAYER LISTING
Track 1 – SIBELIUS Violin Concerto: 1st movement
Track 2 – SIBELIUS Violin Concerto: 3rd movement
Boris Belkin (violin), Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy
DECCA ELOQUENCE 466 905-2
Track 3 – PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet: Masks
Track 4 – PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet: The Young Juliet
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0830
Audio kindly supplied by Universal Music.