Romeo and Juliet – Choreography: Angelin Preljocaj – Composer: Prokofiev – Lyon Nat. Opera 1992

Romeo and Juliet is nowadays probably Prokofiev’s best-loved work, and has established itself as a ‘modern’ classic of the international ballet repertoire, though it did not become an acclaimed success until the Kirov Ballet’s production in 1940.
The composer wrote this ballet music at an extremely critical period in his life: after nine years of self-imposed exile, Sergey Prokofiev had spent a difficult decade moving back and forth between two worlds – the West and Stalin’s Soviet Union.
This clash of cultures – with echoes of Orwell’s 1984, and the fall of the Berlin Wall – is something which Enki Bilal has drawn on in his stage design, as has the French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj. The HDTV images have a clarity which also tellingly conveys the extraordinary quality of this 1992 Lyons ballet production, under the direction of Kent Nagano.