Romeo And Juliet from the Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House will sweep you away, with some exceptional conducting by Koen Kessels
Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House
Romeo And Juliet: Beyond Words Opus Arte, out now
Prokofiev’s Romeo And Juliet has claims to be the most dazzling of all romantic ballet scores. It requires exceptionally virtuosic playing, and gets it in abundance here from the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, making its first studio recording in more than a decade.
The players know this score backwards, and it shows. With first-class sound, this is among the most persuasive accounts of Prokofiev’s ballet on disc.
There is a snag, however. Prokofiev’s full score runs for about 140 minutes. This one is the soundtrack for a Royal Ballet spin-off feature film by the BalletBoyz, and around 50 minutes have been excised.
The BalletBoyz movie is also available on Opus Arte, featuring some of the Royal Ballet’s most charismatic performers, led by William Bracewell’s Romeo and Francesca Hayward’s Juliet
These cuts, however, are not as ruinous as they sound. The editing has been carefully done and the story emerges as both more pacy and dramatic.
It will sweep you away, with some exceptional conducting by the Royal Ballet’s music director, Koen Kessels.
For those who like to see the dancing, the BalletBoyz movie is also available on Opus Arte, featuring some of the Royal Ballet’s most charismatic performers, led by William Bracewell’s Romeo and Francesca Hayward’s Juliet.