Romeo & Juliet

The world's most famous lovers have inspired more music than we can perform. So we've selected our favorites from Prokofiev and Bernstein.

Date: Friday 26 June
Time: 18:00–19:15
Venue: Risør kirke

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About the concert

This is surely the clearest example of literature as inspiration for music.

Everyone has probably heard Prokofiev's ballet music. But there is always someone in the audience who learns for the first time that West Side Story is a reinterpretation of Romeo and Juliet set on the streets of New York.

In 30 years we could make the same concert and sell out the hall, perhaps with a few new versions, but these two works will probably always be part of it.

The Works in the Concert

The Most Romantic Lieder Ever, vol. 39

The Most Romantic Lieder Ever, vol. 39

Robert Schumann: Widmung, from Op. 25 (1840)
Clara Schumann: Liebst du um Schönheit, from Op. 12 (1841)
Robert Schumann: Im wunderschönen Monat Mai, from Op. 48 (1840)
Johannes Brahms: Ständchen, from Op. 106 (1885–88)
Hugo Wolf: Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen (1891)
Johannes Brahms: Botschaft, from Op. 47 (1858–68)

Performers:

Roderick Williams, baritone
Gunnar Flagstad, piano

Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet

Sergei Prokofiev: From Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 (1935–36)

Prokofiev composed the work in 1935, but made a major revision before the premiere in 1940. The well-known colourful and dramatic music exists in several concert suites, also arranged for violin and piano.

Performers:

Arabella Steinbacher, violin
Gunnar Flagstad, piano

Nino Rota: A Time for Us

Nino Rota (1911–1979): A Time for Us, love theme from the film Romeo and Juliet (1968)

Performers:

Lars Andreas Aspesæter, piano

Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story

Leonard Bernstein: From West Side Story (1957)

Arranged especially for this year's festival by Jarle Storløkken

Bernstein's musical West Side Story from 1957 is a modern interpretation of Romeo and Juliet in the form of a Broadway classic. Several of the songs and instrumental numbers are among the best known in the American musical theatre repertoire.