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Sound Bytes: Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet

Sunday, August 18, 2019 by Becky Reesor | Music Appreciation


Listening delights for you:

  

Sergei Prokofiev: easily a top 5 favourite composer.  
His colourful drive, energy and “lyrical bite” entrance me. Today, the 2 piano 4 hands (piano duet) performance of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet by the legendary Martha Argerich and Sergei Babayan struck as pure delight; I feel spun into another world. 


Excerpts for your listening pleasure in today’s assembled order (but please do not feel limited):



  1. No. 10, The Young Juliet:  
    48 seconds to whet the appetite. Follow the running lines and feel how Juliet’s youthful vitality pulls your sense of gravity.
       


     



  2. No. 48, The Morning Serenade:  
    Time to relax; look in your mind’s eye to the sunbeams, the birds and the bees and the couples’ brief moment of morning bliss.
       


     



  3. No. 35, Death of Tybalt:  
    Because life is not all sweetness… and games can bring bitter endings.
       
     

     



  4. 3 Dance numbers from the ball:   
    No. 25, Dance of the Mandolins:  
      Quirky & playful dance of the socialite.  

    No. 22, Folk Dance:  
      Rustic & playful dance of the youth.  

    No. 13, Dance of the Knights:  
      Sinister & foreboding dance of the Imperial Death Star… ahem… Montague’s
      vs Capulets. Also heard with MUSE, Iron Maiden & Deep Purple   
     

         



  5. No. 18, Gavotte:  
    I leave you to depart alongside the guests of the ball. Walk with cheeky grace into your day!