Romeo and Juliet by Christian Spuck, music by Prokofiev

It is the most famous love story in Western literature, told and retold countless times at the opera, ballet, theatre, and cinema—and Sergei Prokofiev’s 1938 Romeo and Juliet has proved a particularly enduring and adaptable setting for the beloved Shakespearean tragedy. The score, lively and ebullient, foreboding and heartrending, is a choreographer’s dream, and Ballett Zürich’s artistic director Christian Spuck’s version proves that the time-worn stories we know by heart still have much to tell us.

Set designer Christian Schmidt’s elegant, wide-open stage allows the dancers to flourish, and they more than rise to the occasion under Spuck’s direction: Bachtrack applauds Daniel Mulligan’s “brilliantly danced” Mercutio, the “superbly noble” Christian Alex Assis as Tybalt, and—most crucially—William Moore and Katja Wünsche as the star-crossed title pair, who “couldn’t have been more convincing.” The sublimely graceful dancing and impeccable acting are complemented by Maestro Michail Jurowski and the Philharmonia Zürich, who highlight the rapturous melodies, contrasting colors, and shifting moods of Prokofiev's masterpiece.

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