A ROMANTIC VALENTINE WITH ROMEO AND JULIET
The first programme of February is, as always, dedicated to Mari-lette, who so faithfully supports these music evenings with a lot of hard "behind-the-scenes" work. Without her, none of it would have been possible. The Valentine programmes are of course also dedicated to all the lovely ladies attending the music evenings so regularly!
This year, Romeo and Juliet is the subject of the special Valentine programme...
- VINCENZO BELLINI (1801-35): I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Act 1 Scene 2)
- DMITRY KABALEVSKY (1904-87): Romeo and Juliet
- CHARLES GOUNOD (1818-93): Roméo et Juliette
The programme will start off with the complete second scene from the first act of Bellini's opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi. In this scene, which is set in Giulietta's room, she sings an aria about unfulfilled longing for Romeo. Romeo enters, and he urges Giulietta to flee with him, but she resists all his pleading and begs him to cause her no more torment.
Giulietta - Hei-Kyung Hong (soprano)
Romeo - Jennifer Larmore (mezzo-soprano)
After the dinner break, the 100th birthday of Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-87) is celebrated with his orchestral suite Romeo and Juliet.
- In the Cell of Friar Laurence
The Moscow Symphony Orchestra is led by Vasily Jelvakov
The last item on the programme is a film of a condensed version of Gounod's
opera Roméo et Juliette.
Shakespeare's lovers never looked and sounded so good as in this film, starring
one of classical music's most popular and successful duos - Angela Gheorghiu
and Roberto Alagna. Filmed in the Czech Republic, a spectacular medieval
castle and its surrounding countryside provide the setting for this timeless tale
of warring families and star-crossed lovers. Conductor Anton Guadagno leads
the soloists and the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra through the opera's
best-loved arias and duets.
The film is directed by Barbara Willis-Sweete.
(Sung in French with English sub-titles)
