Romeo and Juliet at the Mediterranean

Elim Chan returns to the Concertgebouw Orchestra with a very sunny programme indeed, in which a colourful selection from Prokofiev's ballet 'Romeo and Juliet' is preceded by Mendelssohn's Fourth Symphony. In this 'Italian' symphony, 24-year-old Mendelssohn incorporated his impressions from a tour of Italy. The rolling landscapes, Venetian gondolas, art treasures in Florence and Rome, the people and their culture, all resonate in this optimistic music full of Mediterranean warmth. The concert opens with the turbulent overture Le corsaire (‘The Pirate’, after Lord Byron), which Hector Berlioz wrote during a holiday in Nice. 

Thanks to Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet have been famous for centuries. The rivalry between their families stood in the way of their love, and such a romance is of course doomed to fail. It inspired Prokofiev to create a ballet full of captivating music: each piece is even more beautiful than the last. Conductor Elim Chan presents her selection.