Roméo et Juliette (Berlioz)

Roméo et Juliette is a seven-movement symphonie dramatique for orchestra and three choruses, with vocal solos, by French composer Hector Berlioz. Émile Deschamps wrote its libretto with Shakespeare's play as his base. The work was completed in 1839 and first performed on 24 November of that year, but it was modified before its first publication, in 1847, and modified again for the 2ème Édition of 1857, today's reference. It bears the catalogue numbers Op. 17 and H. 79. Regarded as one of Berlioz's finest achievements, Roméo et Juliette is also among his most original in form^[1] and his most comprehensive and detailed to follow a program.^[2] The vocal forces are used in the 1st, 5th and 7th movements.

Roméo et Juliette

H. 79

by Émile Deschamps

French

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

24 November 1839 (1839-11-24)

seven, in three parts

3 soloists
chorus
orchestra

Composition[edit]

Genesis[edit]

Initial inspiration came from a performance he witnessed in 1827 of Romeo and Juliet (in David Garrick's edited version) at the Odéon Theatre in Paris. The cast included Harriet Smithson, who also inspired Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. In his Memoirs, Berlioz describes the electrifying effect of the drama:

2 flutes, 2 oboes (one doubling cor anglais), 2 clarinets, 4 bassoons

piccolo

4 , 2 cornets, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, bass tuba

horns

2 pairs of , 2 Tambourines, 2 Triangles, bass drum, cymbals, crotales

timpani

2 and strings

harps

tenor, bass

contralto

The score calls for:

Roméo et Juliette: , John Garris, Nicola Moscona. Arturo Toscanini cond., NBC Symphony Orchestra. 2 CDs, ADD, RCA Records. Recorded 1947.

Gladys Swarthout

Roméo et Juliette: Margaret Roggero, Leslie Chabay, . Charles Munch cond., Boston Symphony Orchestra, Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society. RCA Records Victor LP LM 6011; CD reissue RCA/BMG GD 60681. Recorded Boston, 22–23 February 1953.

Yi-Kwei Sze

Roméo et Juliette: Irma Kolassi, Joseph Peyron, Lucien Lovano. cond., Orchestre National et Choœurs de la RTF. 2 CDs, Cascavelle. Live recording, Paris, 25 June 1953.

Charles Munch

Roméo et Juliette: , Cesare Valletti, Giorgio Tozzi. Boston Symphony Orchestra, New England Conservatory Chorus. RCA Records Victor LP LD 6098; CD reissue RCA/BMG 74321 341682. Recorded Boston, 23–24 April 1961.^[17]

Rosalind Elias

Roméo et Juliette: , André Turp, David Ward. Pierre Monteux cond., London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Westminster LP XWN2233; CD reissues Millennium Classics MCAD-29805, DG Westminster 471 2422. Recorded Walthamstow Town Hall, 18–21 June 1962.^[18]

Regina Resnik

Roméo et Juliette: , Robert Tear, John Shirley-Quirk. Sir Colin Davis cond., London Symphony Orchestra, John Alldis Choir, Philips LP SAL3695-96, CD reissue 416 962.2. Recorded Wembley Town Hall, 24, 27–28 February, 13–14 April 1968.^[19]

Patricia Kern

Roméo et Juliette: , Michel Sénéchal, Nicolai Ghiaurov. Lorin Maazel cond. ORTF Choir, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Decca Records SET570-71. Recorded 11–15 December 1972, Sofiensaal, Vienna.^[19]

Christa Ludwig

Roméo et Juliette: , Jean Dupouy, José van Dam. Seiji Ozawa, cond., Boston Symphony Orchestra, New England Conservatory Chorus. 2 CDs. Deutsche Grammophon. Recorded Boston, October 1975.

Julia Hamari

Roméo et Juliette: , Nicolai Gedda, John Shirley-Quirk. Lamberto Gardelli, cond., Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Orfeo. Recorded 18–25 February 1983, Musikvereinssaal.

Brigitte Fassbaender

Roméo et Juliette: , Thomas Moser, Alastair Miles. Colin Davis cond., Wiener Philharmoniker, Bavarian Radio Chorus. 2 CDs, DDD, Philips Classics Records, 1 September 1993.

Olga Borodina

Roméo et Juliette: Catherine Robbin, , Gilles Cachemaille. John Eliot Gardiner cond., Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Monteverdi Choir. 2 CDs, DDD, Philips/PolyGram, 14 April 1998.

Jean-Paul Fouchécourt

Roméo et Juliette: , John Aler, Simon Estes. Riccardo Muti cond., Philadelphia Orchestra, Westminster Choir, New Philharmonia Orchestra. 2 CDs, DDD, EMI Classics, 11 August 1998.

Jessye Norman

Roméo et Juliette: , Kenneth Tarver, Orlin Anastassov. Colin Davis cond., London Symphony Orchestra. 2 CDs, DDD, LSO Live, 1 January 2000. Cat. no: LSO0003, UPC: 822231100324.

Daniela Barcellona

Roméo et Juliette: , Kenneth Tarver, Denis Sedov. Pierre Boulez cond., Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus. 2 CDs, DDD, Deutsche Grammophon, 14 October 2003.

Melanie Diener

Roméo et Juliette: , Kenneth Tarver, Evgeny Nikitin. Valery Gergiev cond., London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Guildhall School Singers. 2 CDs, DDD, LSO Live, November 2013. UPC: 822231176220.

Olga Borodina

Roméo et Juliette: Michèle Losier, Samuel Boden, David Soar. , cond., BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus. 2 CDs, DDD, Chandos. Recorded 2015.

Andrew Davis

Roméo et Juliette, , Cyrille Dubois, Christopher Maltman, Choeur de l'OnR, Orchestre philarmonique de Strasbourg, conducted by John Nelson. 2 CD Warner classics 2023. Choc de Classica

Joyce DiDonato

Berlioz, Hector; , (trans. and editor) (2002). The Memoirs of Hector Berlioz. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-41391-9.

Cairns, David

Cairns, David (1999). Berlioz. Volume Two. Servitude and Greatness 1832–1869. London: Allen Lane. The Penguin Press. 978-0-7139-9386-8.

ISBN

(1989). Berlioz, p. 201. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-06778-3.

Holoman, D. Kern

Hunt, John (2009) [2003]. A Gallic Trio: Charles Munch, Paul Paray, Pierre Monteux – Discographies. John Hunt. 9781901395150.

ISBN

(1982). Berlioz, The Master Musicians Series. London: J. M. Dent. ISBN 978-0-460-03156-1.

Macdonald, Hugh

Notes

Cited sources

(2001), Berlioz's Semi-Operas: Roméo et Juliette and La damnation de Faust, 204pp, University of Rochester Press. ISBN 978-1580460941

Roméo et Juliette (Berlioz)