Romeo and Juliet by Nureyev, music by Prokofiev
Monique Loudières (Juliet), Manuel Legris (Romeo), Charles Jude (Tybalt), Lionel Delanoë (Mercutio) – Corps de Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris
Cast
Rudolf Nureyev — Choreographer, stage director
Ezio Frigerio — Set designer, costumes
Mauro Pagano — Costumes
Vinicio Cheli — Lighting designer
Monique Loudières — Juliet
Manuel Legris — Romeo
Charles Jude — Tybalt
Program notes
I’m convinced that Renaissance Verona and Elizabethan London, in a society divided between old superstitions and a hunger for the new world, had sex and violence in common; which, oddly enough, links them to our times. – Rudolf Nureyev
After Rudolf Nureyev's death in 1993, the Paris Opera Ballet restaged the legendarily lavish Romeo and Juliet that he had brought to the French capital in 1984. (He had performed the role of Romeo himself in Kenneth MacMillan’s 1965 version, and later mounted his own productions in 1977, 1980, 1983, and 1984.) The leads, chosen by Nureyev himself, included Monique Loudières and Manuel Legris as Juliet and Romeo, plus Charles Jude and Lionel Delanoë as Tybalt and Mercutio, alongside Paris's exquisite corps de ballet.
Framed by Ezio Frigerio's opulent, fresco-inspired sets and costumes straight out of Renaissance Verona, this star-studded 1995 production, directed by Alexandre Tarta, presents an atmosphere as superb in appearance as it is intense in dramatic stakes. If you're looking for the definitive version of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, look no further.
