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Overture.
The Overture opens with a powerful theme of the ancient Feud, which
will ultimately take the lives of Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet.
The Feud leitmotif is followed by an exposition of many different
leitmotifs to be encountered in this complex work.
Scene One. Verona. Montague and Capulet.
This scene opens with the leitmotif of Verona, painting a peaceful
city amidst gardens and fountains. As the dawn breaks over this
medieval city, the choir sets the scene with Shakespeare's words:
"Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona,
where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where
civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From fatal loins of these two foes a pair of
star-crossed lovers takes their life
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows doth with
their death bury their parents' strife."
Yet a new day brings more feuding between two noble families of
Montague and Capulet, leading to countless fights on the
ancient streets of this otherwise peaceful city. The Prince of
Verona, represented by the leitmotif based on the melody sung
by the choir, appears and warns the two actions that death will be
the ultimate punishment if the feud does not stop.
Scene Two. Romeo and Juliet.
In this scene, Romeo, son of Montague and Juliet, daughter of
Capulet, are introduced by their leitmotifs. As the melodies follow
one another the composer paints with serene musical colors the inner
feelings of our main characters. The first theme represents
Romeo and is followed by two themes of Juliet.
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Emilian Sichkin. "Romeo
and Juliet". The timeless tale of great love told through
beautiful romantic music.
This complex romantic symphonic tragedy is a perfect
gift for any lover of classical, instrumental or New Age music.
The listeners will be enchanted by the haunting
melodies, at times full of dramatic tensions, as the story reaches
its tragic epilogue. State of the art recording incorporates
orchestral and electronic instruments, Russian and American choirs
and soloists, including a rock ballad sung by John Gorman. It is a
set of two disks and 108 minutes of music splendor. [more] |
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