Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet - Awesome Youth Orchestra in Hi-Res Audio

Gimnazija Kranj Christmas Concert Series - Anniversary Edition Series.
In this series, I am going to re-upload some of the milestones from our performing and recording productions in the last 15 years. Our lead master technician Mr. Iztok Zupan remastered all of our analog audio recordings in amazing digital Hi-Res audio landscape. He used sophisticated rerecording processes, rubidium clock processes and some other exotic black magic for one of the most superior sound, you can get it on youtube.

Maestro Nejc Bečan is a conductor

Romeo and Juliet, TH 42, ČW 39, is an orchestral work composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It is styled an Overture-Fantasy and is based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. Like other composers such as Berlioz and Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky was deeply inspired by Shakespeare and wrote works based on The Tempest and Hamlet as well.

Unlike Tchaikovsky's other major compositions, Romeo and Juliet do not have an opus number. It has been given the alternative catalog designations TH 42 and ČW 39.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky was familiar with the stories of many of the plays of William Shakespeare. This
overture is based upon the story of Romeo and Juliet.

Although styled as an "Overture-Fantasy" by Tchaikovsky, the overall design is a symphonic poem
in sonata form. The work is based on three main themes. The first theme, written in F sharp minor
presents the saintly Friar Laurence. From the lower strings, there is a foreboding of tragedy-to-come.
This theme, with plucked strings, continues in F minor and ends in E minor.

We then have a single inverted B minor chord which is passed back and forth between the strings and woodwinds which develops into the second theme in B minor ..... the rivalry between the Capulets and Montagues. This includes the sword fight, depicted by the crashing cymbals and anxious sixteenths. The action suddenly slows, the key changing from B minor to D-flat and we have the first appearance of Romeo and Juliet's love theme, first with some anxiety, and then, although still defensive against the outside world, it settles into perfect contentment between the two of them. The English horn and viola represent Romeo, whilst the flutes represent Juliet. The love theme fades and we are jolted back to the ongoing war between our lovers' families. It has greater intensity than before. The anxious Friar Laurence theme is heard in the midst of the violence. Then the strings bring us back to Romeo and Juliet with a beautiful floating melody from which the flute and oboe take us soaring back to the love theme, this time, in D-major. This passage tells of the courtship of Romeo and Juliet, and then their marriage.

The tragedy of the suicides is denoted by two loud clashes of the cymbals. A final presentation of the fight between the families follows ..... and then ..... a soft, slow lament in B-major, the timpani playing repeated triplets ...... ber-ber booooom .... ber-ber booooom ..... a tuba holds a B natural. The
woodwinds play a delicate lament for the dead lovers ...... and then Tchaikovsky finishes the overture as he finished so many of his compositions. Reminiscent of the 1812 overture .... we have a huge tonic-repetitive crescendo, in this piece, there is the rising roll of the timpani and a final glorious B-natural.

(edited by Tog Hoath according to Wikipedia article)

Sound design: Matjaž Culiberg
Flowers: Yasmin d.o.o
Light: Janez Kocjan
Scenography: Jernej Kejžar, Puhart
Master and rerecording processes: Iztok Zupan, Klopotec
production manager: Gregor Jeraša
concert director and broadcast director: Primož Zevnik, PPZ production