by Deirdre Donovan

Valentine’s Day arrived a little early this year, thanks to the baton of the renowned Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.  In his recent program at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) at Newark, he brought Shakespeare’s beloved Romeo and Juliet to life, not through high-flown rhetoric, but through the stunning music of Tchaikovsky, Gounod, and Prokofiev.  As part of its annual Winter Festival, Lacombe tapped into the trio’s Shakespeare-themed works, underscoring that the Bard can break out of his literary tradition-- and sound the better for it.

The program began with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture.  Curiously, Tchaikovsky originally meant the work to be an opera based on the famous tragedy.  But his grand design came to nothing, and this little masterpiece surfaced in its place.  Ironically, it caught the notice of the serious music world, which praised Tchaikovsky for capturing the tragedy in a striking new manner.  The fantasy-overture relies on the sonata form for its basic musical structure and superimposes the themes of love, death, and fate from the Bard’s tragedy.  Tchaikovsky used very broad strokes in creating this musical cameo.  And it’s a clear instance that less can be more.  Indeed, his overture is winning for its artistic economy and structural integrity.  To evoke the story of the star-crossed lovers, the master naturally relied on his musical genius—but also trusted that the audience could flesh-out the narrative details from his melodic impressions of it.  After all, who doesn’t know Shakespeare’s popular story by heart? Indeed, those listening to Tchaikovsky’s overture couldn’t help but melt into its dreamy notes.  Bolstered by the first-rate musicians playing on an array of instruments, from piccolos to English horns to brass, to drums, to strings—well, it was nothing short of sublime.

The second offering was Gounod’s opera Romeo and Juliet, a hefty five-act opera that was pared down to 15 minutes of sterling music and vocal virtuosity.  Soprano Rachel Sterrenberg and tenor Mingjie Lei came to the fore with their operatic chops, singing “Ah! Je veux vivre” (Ah! I want to live”) and “”Ah! Leve-toi, soleil!” (“Love .Ah!  Arise, o sun!!”), respectively.  The artists delivered these aubade-styled pieces (the program notes describes the first as “a cross between a waltz and an arietta” and the second as a “cavatina” or mini-aria) with much pathos.   But both numbers were only a warm-up to the more intense love duet, “O nuit divine” (O divine night”), which is a blending of a recitative and aria.  Although the love duet is less known than the famous solo numbers, the two singers colored the duet with such emotional power that it became the more memorable vocal performance.  True, purists may argue that nothing can top Shakespeare’s’ poetry.  But these two virtuosos proved that Shakespeare can be adapted brilliantly into opera.  First performed on April 27, 1867, Gounod’s work remains intoxicating as ever.  Buoyed up by Lacombe’s baton and the nimble fingers of the artists on their assorted instruments, it certainly whetted the appetite of all the concertgoers in the hall for the whole opera.  In fact, if this section had any flaw, it was that it gave us only appetizers instead of the full Shakespearean feast.

Last--but far from least--were selections from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64.  Lacombe, who is well-known for his inventiveness as a conductor, outdid himself here by blurring the line between the traditional concert and theatrical performance.  Lacombe invited the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey to team-up with the NJSO for this final piece.  And what you got here was a dynamic mix of classical music, gorgeous choreography, and the actual poetry of the Bard.  The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey has gained a reputation over the years for being  first-rate purveyors of Shakespeare’s canon and the classics.  Well, they clearly rose to the occasion here.  The corps of thespians seamlessly performed with the orchestra to give the audience a rich dramatization of Prokofiev’s work.  And before the lights dimmed, the audience had experienced Shakespeare’s story from its Prologue to Epilogue, and everything in between. Yes, it was a whirlwind tour of the play but all the essential elements remained intact.  Prokofiev, in fact, was the first to morph Shakespeare’s story into a ballet.  And when it premiered on December 30, 1938 in BRNO, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), it really created a stir in Shakespearean circles.  And while this ballet is no longer considered cutting-edge, Lacombe’s new staging of it was.

This Shakespeare program came and went in a flash.  However, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra makes regular visits to the NJPAC at Newark.  While New Jersey folk can listen to this celebrated orchestra in their own backyard, New Yorkers can take the path train from Manhattan to New Jersey and arrive at NJPAC in just about an hour.  In fact, the venue (with its auditorium’s great acoustics and posh seats) is just a hop and skip away from the Newark train station.  The 2015 season is just beginning and promises to be chockfull of classical goodies (Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II was recently heard at NJPAC, with its cartoon character saying his signature line: “What’s up, Doc?”).  So check out all their upcoming programs and when Lacombe and the NJSO return to this world-class cultural center.  You can chase away the blues this winter simply by getting an earful of live classical music with this celebrated orchestra in the spotlight.

Winter Festival:  Lacombe Conducts Romeo and Juliet,
At the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark.
Performed on January 9^th (at NJPAC), January 10^th, (at the State Theatre in New Brunswick) and January 11^th (at NJPAC).

For more information on upcoming programs of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, visit www.njsymphony.org.