The great French composer Hector Berlioz argued that Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, was meant to be music. Apparently, other composers were of the same opinion, who were inspired by the famous Shakespearean plot to create works of various genres.
Instructions
Step 1
Although composers and musicians began to turn to the love story of Romeo and Juliet as early as the 18th century, the first famous work based on Shakespeare's tragedy was written in 1830. It was Vincenzo Bellini's opera Capulet and Montague. It is not at all surprising that the Italian composer was attracted by the story that took place in the Italian Verona. True, Bellini has somewhat departed from the plot of the play: Juliet's brother dies at his hand by Romeo, and Tybalt, named in Tybaldo's opera, is not a relative, but the girl's fiancé. Interestingly, Bellini himself at that time was in love with the opera diva Grisi Grisi and wrote the role of Romeo for her magnificent mezzo-soprano.
Step 2
In the same year, one of the performances of the opera was attended by the French rebel and romantic Hector Berlioz. However, the calm sound of Bellini's music caused him the deepest disappointment. In 1839 he wrote his Romeo and Juliet, a dramatic symphony to words by Emile Deschamp. In the 20th century, many ballet performances were staged to the music of Berlioz. The most famous is the ballet Romeo and Julia choreographed by Maurice Béjart.
Step 3
In 1867, the famous opera Romeo and Juliet by the French composer Charles Gounod was created. Although this work is often ironically called "a continuous love duet", it is considered the best opera version of Shakespeare's tragedy and to this day is performed on the stages of opera houses around the world.
Step 4
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky turned out to be among those few listeners for whom Gounod's opera did not arouse much enthusiasm. In 1869 he wrote his work on a Shakespearean plot, it became the fantasy overture “Romeo and Juliet”. The tragedy captured the composer so much that at the end of his life he decided to write a large opera based on it, but, unfortunately, did not have time to implement his grandiose plan. In 1942, the outstanding choreographer Serge Lifar staged a ballet to the music of Tchaikovsky.
Step 5
However, the most famous ballet on the subject of Romeo and Juliet was written in 1932 by Sergei Prokofiev. At first, his music seemed "non-danceable" to many, but over time, Prokofiev managed to prove the viability of his work. Since then, the ballet has gained immense popularity and, to this day, does not leave the stage of the best theaters in the world.
Step 6
On September 26, 1957, Leonard Bernstein's musical "West Side Story" premiered on the stage of a Broadway theater. Its action takes place in modern New York, and the happiness of the heroes - "Native American" Tony and Puerto Rican Maria is ruined by racial animosity. Nevertheless, all the plot moves of the musical very accurately repeat the content of Shakespeare's tragedy.
Step 7
The music of the Italian composer Nino Rota, written for the 1968 film by Franco Zeffirelli, became a kind of musical hallmark of Romeo and Juliet in the 20th century. It was this film that inspired the contemporary French composer Gerard Presgurvik to create the hugely popular musical Romeo and Juliet, which is well known in the Russian version as well.
