Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare’s star-cross’d lovers have inspired composers for centuries, but nothing quite matches Prokofiev’s great Soviet ballet.

‘How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night, Like softest music to attending ears!’ Shakespeare’s star-cross’d lovers have inspired composers for centuries, but nothing quite matches Prokofiev’s great Soviet ballet: Romeo and Juliet retold in music as sharp as a rapier and as tender as a kiss. The love theme from Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture, meanwhile, is still the ultimate musical shorthand for passion. It’s hot stuff, but conductor Gemma New and soloist Randall Goosby cool things down in the most elegant (and enjoyable) way imaginable – with a delicious concerto by the teenage Mozart.