Berliner Philarmoniker conducted by James Levine.
Part I
I – Introduction. Combats – Tumulte – Intervention du Prince. Allegro fugato: 0:00
(A) Prologue. Récitatif choral. D’anciennes haines endormies. Moderato: 4:33
(B) Strophes. Premiers transports. Andante solenne: 9:03
(C) Récitatif et Scherzetto. Mab la messagère. Moderato: 15:21
Part II
II – Roméo seul – Tristesse – Bruits lontains de concert et bal – Grande Fête chez Capulet. Andante malinconico e sostenuto – Allegro – Larghetto espressivo – Allegro: 18:49
III – Nuit sereine. Le Jardin de Capulet, silencieux et désert – Les jeunes Capulets, sortant de la fête, passent en chantant des réminiscences de la musique du bal – Scène d’amour. Allegretto – Adagio – Tempo I – Animato – Allegro agitato – Adagio: 31:57
IV – La reine Mab ou la fée des songes. Scherzo. Prestissimo – Allegretto – Tempo I: 50:26
Part III
V – Convoi funèbre de Juliette. Andante non troppo lento: 58:09
VI – Roméo au tombeau des Capulets – Invocation – Réveil de Juliette – Joie délirante, désespoir, dernières angoisses et mort de deux amants. Allegro agitato e disperato, con moto – Largo – L’istesso tempo – Allegro vivace ed appasionato assai – L’istesso tempo: 1:08:38
VII – Finale. La Foule accourt au cimetière – Rixe des Capulets et des Montagus – Récitatif et Air du Père Laurence – Serment de réconciliation. Allegro – Doppio più lento – Allegro non troppo – Andantino – Allegro – Larghetto sostenuto – Allegro non troppo – Andante maestoso – Allegro – Allegro moderato – Andante un poco maestoso: 1:29:34
“Romeo and Juliet” is Berlioz’s third symphony, composed in 1839. Premiered at the Paris Conservatoire directed by the author himself. The success was resounding. Among the spectators of its premiere was Wagner, who was inspired to compose his Faust Overture and later to his Tristan and Isolde. The symphony had several corrections, not being published until the year 1847.
The composer himself wrote a prologue for this work, explaining that it was a true symphony. “It’s not a concert opera, not a cantata, it’s a choral symphony.” The feelings and passions are entrusted to the orchestra as opposed to the opera. The famous love duet is played by the orchestra, because words can not express what music can.
Berlioz believes in the continuation of the work begun by Beethoven in his ninth symphony. The introduction of the human voice in the symphony of the future. Wagner also believes it, but in a different way, creating the symphonic opera. The treatment of Berlioz is the opposite, try to build the operatic symphony. Wagner sees the symphony as an ended genre, Berlioz as a genre that needs a renovation. Perhaps one of the reasons for his behavior were the failures obtained in the performances of his operas. The true truth is that the closed form of the classical symphony is over, the symphony form is destroyed to be reborn in a much freer new form, a form in which it can endure in the future. The expression dominates the form.
The symphony is structured in three parts: an initial explanatory part that acts as a prologue, the four parts of the symphony itself and a final where the choirs intervene.
The first part begins with a lively orchestral introduction in a fugue, representing the fights between the two families, Capulets and Montagues, through the channels of Verona. A solemn motif interpreted by the trombones shows us the intervention of the Prince. The initial fugato reappears briefly and soon becomes silent, to make way for the small chorus that tells the action. The solo contralto, accompanied by the harp, describes the drama. It is a descriptive prelude so that listeners can follow the action that the music will describe. The Prince intervenes to stop the fight to the death between the two houses. The head of the Capulets family celebrates a party, as the choir tells us.
Romeo, belonging to the Montagues, wanders around the palace thinking of his beloved Juliet. The orchestra interprets the beginning of the themes that will later be developed. The party ends. The chorus tells us the famous balcony scene, anticipating the melody of the love scene. The contralto soloist, accompanied by the harp, sings the first love of Julieta in the song “Premiers transports”. The tenor solo accompanied by the choir mocks the love of Romeo, in a song that speaks of the spell that Queen Mab, the queen of fairies and dreams, which according to the work of Shakespeare, has done on the lover. The final chorus tells us how death has the final power to reconcile families.
[Description continnued in the comments section]Picture: “Romeo and Juliet” (1884) by the English painter Frank Dicksee.
Sources from this spanish website on Berlioz symphonism: http://www.historiadelasinfonia.es/naciones/la-sinfonia-en-francia/berlioz/