Willoughby Symphony - Berlioz's Romeo and Juliette

here's what I said for Sydney Arts Guide http://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/wso-performs-berlioz/

Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliette is rarely performed as it requires such a big cast – a huge choir, a large orchestra and three top soloists.

First performed in November 1839 it is Berlioz’s tempestuous, dramatic distillation and reworking of the Shakespearean story in musical and choral terms. This work was a special favourite of Berlioz’s. It can be viewed as a homage to his own personal Juliet (his muse and eventual wife Harriet Smithson) and to his two great inspirations and mentors , Shakespeare and Beethoven. Dedicated to Paganini ( who unfortunately never heard it , to Berlioz’s regret ) ,it was inspired by a performance he attended in 1827 at the Odeon Theatre in Paris ,when he first saw Smithson as Juliet. (She also for example, inspired his ‘Symphonie Fantasique’). Richard Wagner was in the first night audience of Berlioz’s work and there are possible Wagnerian influences throughout as well . With libretto by Émile Deschamps it is regarded as one of Berlioz’s most comprehensive and detailed programmatic pieces.

Under the emphatic , precise, yet very enthusiastic and enthusiastic and energetic direction of Nicholas Milton the Willoughby Symphony and choir gave a glorious performance. Milton introduced the work and at various points talked about the work and various sections and what to listen for etc. It is sung in French but with English translation available in the program .The choir was in magnificent form as followers of the two tempestuous warring houses, or the astonished crowds rushing to the church in the Finale for example.

Musically and structurally, ‘Roméo et Juliette ‘shows a lot of influence by Beethoven’s heavyweight 9th symphony – not just with the way choir and soloists are used , but for example in factors such as the weight of the vocal contribution being in the finale, and also in aspects of the orchestration such as the theme of the trombone recitative in the introduction. The characters of Roméo and Juliette are represented by the orchestra, and the chorus/narrative aspects by the voices .Like the Prokofiev ballet it opens with the warring houses of the Capulets and Montagues and the Prince of Verona being forced to intervene.

At the heart of the choral symphony, both emotionally and structurally, is the adagio in part2 , the wordless love scene, written for orchestra alone. Voices are never forgotten however – we hear them in the lyrical love scene , the songs of revellers on their way home from the ball floating softly across the stillness of the Capulets’ garden, and the funeral procession, two movements later, is partly choral. Voices and narrative are increasingly focused in preparation for the dramatic , seething choral finale, where the drama comes fully into the open and the feuds depicted orchestrally in the introduction are relived and then resolved.

The music is wonderfully rich in giving a lyrical, joyous sense of the magic and brevity of love, in “sounds and sweet airs” of various kinds: including the darting scherzo, representing not only Mercutio’s Queen Mab but the whole nimble-footed, comical-fantastic, fatally irrational element in the play.The grandly noble swell of the imposing extended melody which develops from the questioning phrases of “Romeo alone”, the haunting beauty of Juliet’s funeral procession; the thrilling unison of cor anglais, horn and four bassoons in Romeo’s invocation in the Capulet’s tomb and the violence of the lovers’ deaths (viewed as some of the most avant-garde music Berlioz ever wrote); the adagio’s deep-toned harmonies and spellbound arcs of melody, conjuring up the enchanted moonlit night and the wonder of the passion that blossoms in it were all given extraordinary performance.

Leonine tenor Warren Fisher in Act 1 was marvelous – in the Scherzetto when he is Mercutio and the exhilarating ‘Queen Mab ‘ aria . Rotund baritone David Woloszko as Friar Laurence in Act2 has a splendid, commanding voice. His explanation aria and his authoratively demanding that the Montagues and Capulets reconcile was tremendously done. Mezzo-soprano Caroline Vercoe was stunning in a bold full length red gown and was lyrical and striking as Shakespeare’s Chorus in the ‘ Prologue ‘, whizzing us through to the lush romantic balcony scene and the impassioned ‘Strophes’ , achingly recalling the dynamic love of Romeo and Juliet .A stirring, passionate performance of this hugely demanding Romantic choral symphony that had the packed house wildly cheering and applauding at the end.

Running time 2 hours (approx) including one interval.

The Willoughby Symphony Orchestra’s concert of Berlioz’s ‘Romeo and Juliette’ was performed at the Concourse at Chatswood 21 and 22 June 2014. The Orchestra was conducted by Nicholas Milton with soloists Caroline Vercoe, Warren Fisher and David Woloszko.