浦罗哥菲夫

After 14 years in the West, Sergei Prokofiev returned to Soviet Russia and composed his first full-length ballet score, Romeo and Juliet, commissioned by Serge Diaghilev. His score has a wonderful lyricism depicting Juliet’s innocence and Romeo and Juliet’s tender love for each other. A Czech company first staged the ballet, followed by the Kirov in 1940, and in 1946, the Bolshoi staged it a decade after Prokofiev had finished it. There were those who wanted a happy ending, so Prokofiev had to fight to retain Shakespeare’s tragic ending. Romeo and Juliet is now one of the most popular ballets today.