Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette

[lennygoran]

I'm a big fan of Berlioz--I play Troyens very frequently-still this work is new to me -I suppose because it's not a full scale opera--I have cd's of it but have never played them--I'll rectify that. When this work is performed are there surtitles-I'm looking at one now that doesn't have them. Regards, Len

[John F]

Berlioz called it a symphony. That's a stretch, but it's more like a symphony than an opera, though not much like either. The only character from Shakespeare who sings is Friar Laurence, at the end; the other soloists are heard only briefly in the prologue and are not Romeo and Juliet or any other characters, they just comment on the story. The three middle movements have no singing at all, and they used to be performed separately; the Queen Mab scherzo is often performed on its own.

[stenka razin]

Len, the 'Love Scene' is one of the most gorgeous pieces in all of classical music. Once heard, never forgotten, my friend.


Regards,
Mel

[John F]

And then there's the Queen Mab scherzo, the ultimate in fairy music, inspired by Mercutio's fantasy:



O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Over men's noses as they lie asleep;
Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs,
The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers;
Her traces, of the smallest spider web;
Her collars, of the moonshine's wat'ry beams;
Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film;
Her wagoner, a small grey-coated gnat,
Not half so big as a round little worm
Pricked from the lazy finger of a maid;
Her chariot is an empty hazelnut,
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o' mind the fairies' coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;
O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies straight;
O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees;
O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are.
Sometimes she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pig's tail
Tickling a parson's nose as 'a lies asleep,
Then dreams he of another benefice.
Sometimes she driveth o'er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plats the manes of horses in the night
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled much misfortune bodes.
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage.
This is she!

[lennygoran]

Berlioz called it a symphony. That's a stretch, but it's more like a symphony than an opera, though not much like either. The only character from Shakespeare who sings is Friar Laurence, at the end; the other soloists are heard only briefly in the prologue and are not Romeo and Juliet

Thanks, I was listening to the Love Scene-one so expects to hear Romeo and Juliet singing but it's just not there-have to admit the music itself is lovely. Regards, Len

[lennygoran]

Len, the 'Love Scene' is one of the most gorgeous pieces in all of classical music.

Mel yes I was very impressed by it-so glad I finally discovered it. Regards, Len

[lennygoran]

And then there's the Queen Mab scherzo, the ultimate in fairy music, inspired by Mercutio's fantasy:

Thanks, I hadn't heard that part yet-got this from a site with a PDF I can't seem to copy and paste from.

http://www.sydneysymphony.com/.../PROG18_0...Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Regards, Len

[lennygoran]

Berlioz called it a symphony. That's a stretch, but it's more like a symphony than an opera, though not much like either.

In a strange coincidence for me I was going through my cd's 2 days ago in the M section for a Mendelssohn symphony-love 3, 4 and 5-it dawned on me I have his 1st and 2nd but I haven't listened to either-so another strange sort of work I just discovered and have to give a try. Regards, Len

"Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise), Op. 52 (MWV A 18[1]), is "A Symphony-Cantata on Words of the Holy Bible, for Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra" by Felix Mendelssohn. After the composer's death it was also published as his Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major, a naming and numbering that is not Mendelssohn's.

It requires two sopranos and a tenor as soloists, along with a chorus and orchestra. It lasts almost twice as long as any of Mendelssohn's other four symphonies."

Regards, Len

[karlhenning]

When we heard this performed at Symphony Hall in Boston, Len . . . I don't recall there being surtitles, but there may well have been. It's a wonderful piece.

Cheers,
~k.

[karlhenning]

Berlioz called it a symphony. That's a stretch, but it's more like a symphony than an opera, though not much like either.

Your point is well taken, to be sure; but there was a tendency in that generation after the LvB Op.125 to feel that the genre of the symphony had been stretched, past re-shrinking. (Of course, a sort of reversion would be yet another tendency ; )

Cheers,
~k.

[lennygoran]

When we heard this performed at Symphony Hall in Boston, Len . . . I don't recall there being surtitles, but there may well have been. It's a wonderful piece.

Cheers,
~k.

Karl thanks-I wonder what the usual procedure is though-wonder if it never is done with surtitles? Wonder if it's the kind of thing where they give you a program that has the translations and you sort of read a long-I'm not such a big fan of that. Regards, Len

[John F]

The piece isn't performed often; the last time at the New York Philharmonic was in 2003, and before that in 1994. I didn't attend either performance, but my guess is that the Philharmonic did provide titles.

Ever since I mentioned the Queen Mab scherzo yesterday, the music has been running through my head nonstop. What a wonder it is.