Sunday Classics: Inscribed in the book of pardon -- we see Berlioz' "Roméo et Juliette" through to the soaring conclusion

Shakespeare's humble Friar Laurence has been promoted by Berlioz to the rank of father, in which capacity he will rise, in guilty and righteous rage, to browbeat the once-again-battling Capulets and Montagues into reconciliation.

FATHER LAURENCE: Swear then by this august symbol,
on the body of the maiden and the body of the son,
by this sorrowful wood that consoles,
swear all, swear by the sacred cross,
to fix between you an eternal chain
of tender charity, of fraternal amity;
and may God, who holds future judgment in His hand,
inscribe this oath in the book of pardon.

[CAPULETS and MONTAGUES sing their own versions of the above.]

José van Dam, bass-baritone; New England Conservatory Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, cond. DG, recorded October 1975

This final scene of the reconciliation of the two families is reserved for the domain of opera or oratorio. It hasn't been played on any stage since the time of Shakespeare; but it is too beautiful, too musical, and it crowns a work of the nature of this one too well for the composer to have thought of treating it otherwise.

-- Berlioz, in the Preface to Roméo et Juliette

by Ken

Whew, as I laid out in last night's combined "flashback" and mini-tribute to tenor Cesare Valletti, we have a lot of ground to cover today -- and, happily, a lot of astounding music to listen to. So I'll try to keep the chatter to a minimum.

As we proceed through Parts II and III of Berlioz' "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette, we need to keep in mind the composer's explanation for his decision to portray the impassioned scenes of the lovers, which fall within what we're calling Part II, in purely orchestral language. One last time, then:

If, in the famous scenes of the garden and the cemetery, the dialogue of the two lovers, the asides of Juiet and the impassioned expressions of Romeo, aren't sung, if finally the duets of love and despair are confided to the orchestra, the reasons are numerous and easy to grasp. It is first -- and this motive alone would have provided the author with sufficient justification -- because we're dealing with a symphony and not an opera. Then, duets of this nature having been treated vocally a thousand times and by the greatest masters, it was prudent as well as intriguing to attempt a different mode of expression. It's also because the very sublimeness of that love made portraying it so dangerous for the musician that he had to give his imagination a latitude that the positive sense of sung words wouldn't have allowed him, and recourse to instrumental language, a language richer, more varied, and less fixed, and, by its very vagueness, incomparably more powerful in such a case.

-- Berlioz, from the Preface

"What we're calling Part II"??? In case that slipped past you, there is much confusion and disagreement about the breakdown of Berlioz' Roméo, and we had better establish right now exactly what we mean by Parts II and III.

A NOTE ABOUT THE THREE "PARTS" OF ROMÉO

There's no question that the "symphony" is made up of seven "scenes" ("tableaux") or, more symphonic-sounding, "movements." Nor is there much disagreement that what we've been calling Part I actually is Part II. From here, though, all hell breaks loose.

I've stuck with a division into three parts, which is what one most commonly encounters, even though my Peters miniature score clearly divides the work into four parts: Part II consisting of just the "Roméo Alone" sequence; Part III of just the "Love Scene"; and Part IV all the rest, including the "Queen Mab Scherzo," which would seem clearly to belong with the events and aftermath of the great ball at the Capulets', just like the Scherzetto version of Queen Mab in Part I.

However, since the Toscanini downloads of the complete are in three strictly defined files, we're going to follow its division. It's the one that's probably most often encountered, and it actually seems to me quite reasonable:

Part II --
1. Romeo alone
2. Love Scene
3. Queen Mab Scherzo

Part III
1. Juliet's funeral convoy
2. Romeo at the tomb of the Capulets
3. Finale

ROMÉO ET JULIETTE
PART I

Believe it or not, I think I've had my say (at least for now!) on Part I. If you've missed any of it, or just want to review before setting off into Parts II and III, check out Friday night's "flashback" post.

* * *

ROMÉO ET JULIETTE
PART II

1. Roméo alone -- Melancholy -- Distant noises of music and dancing -- Grand festivities at the Capulets'

We heard perfectly good performances of the extractable orchestral excerpts from Roméo in our very first Roméo preview, as performed by Carlo Maria Giulini and the Chicago Symphony, and a number of them we're simply going to bring back for another hearing, as in the case of the "Romeo Alone" sequence. First, though, we're going to hear the stereo Munch performance (we've heard excerpts from both his 1953 mono and 1961 stereo versions) of this sequence, for the convenience of hearing it broken down into its component parts on separate tracks.

In sections:

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded Apr. 23-24, 1961
In one fell swoop:

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini, cond. EMI, recorded Oct. 13-15, 1969

2. Love scene -- Night -- The Capulets' garden

As I pointed out in last night's "flashback," a purely orchestral version of the Love Scene can be produced with the simple excision of about 80 bars of choral depiction of the Capulet ball guests "go off in the distance," as the semi-chorus narrators put it in Part I. We'll hear it both ways.

Without chorus:

NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, cond. Music & Arts, recorded live, Apr. 5, 1941
Complete:

Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez, cond. DG, recorded May 2000

Perhaps this is a good place to note that Toscanini was a leading champion of Berlioz' Roméo in this country, first during his years with the New York Philharmonic and then with the NBC Symphony. Apart from excerpts, he performed the complete piece as a guest conductor with the Philharmonic in 1942, then gave a broadcast performance with the NBC Symphony spread over two broadcasts in April 1947 which was something of a watershed in fostering awareness of the piece, even though the broadcast performance wasn't released on commercial records until almost two decades later, in 1965.

We're hearing Toscanini's 1947 Roméo in its entirely thanks to the $2.97 (!) download (see below for download info). I'm far from an unabashed admirer; almost none of the performance goes in any of the ways I would really like to hear this music. That said, the performance exudes understanding and commitment, and is in a different league from most of the recorded competition -- not that this is saying all that much.

3. Scherzo: Queen Mab, or the dream fairy

The "Queen Mab Scherzo" was one of the works Toscanini recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1941-42, the masters of which were assumed to be damaged beyond repair until the miraculously restored 2006 BMG issue of the whole series,where we can hear that the Philadelphians yield little in precision to Toscanini's own NBC Symphony while playing with a fullness and beauty of sound we don't associate with Toscanini performances. After that, let's listen again to the Giulini-Chicago recording.


Philadelphia Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded Feb. 9, 1942


Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini, cond. EMI, recorded Oct. 13-15, 1969

Roméo et Juliette: Part II (complete)

Available for 99-cent download here.


Chorus, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, cond. Recorded live, Feb. 9 and 16, 1947

* * *

ROMÉO ET JULIETTE

PART III

1. Juliette's funeral convoy
2. Roméo at the tomb of the Capulets -- Invocation -- Juliette's reawakening -- Delirious joy, despair, final anguishes and death of the two lovers

So far, the only music we've heard from Part III (as we're defining it here, meaning everything after the "Queen Mab Scherzo") is the orchestra-only "Romeo at the tomb of the Capulets" sequence, which breaks down as listed above. It too was included in that batch of Giulini-Chicago orchestral excerpts. Why don't we listen to it again?

Roméo at the tomb of the Capulets

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini, cond. EMI, recorded Oct. 13-15, 1969

As noted above, the "Roméo at the tomb of the Capulets" sequence is preceded by "Juliette's funeral convoy," a choral setting of the following text:

Strew flowers for the dead maiden!
Follow to her tomb our adored sister!

Here's the complete sequence.

Part III, 1. Juliette's funeral convoy
2. Roméo at the tomb of the Capulets


London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, cond. Westminster/MCA/DG, recorded June 1962

And now, finally, we're ready to take the big plunge into the grand finale.

3. Finale: The crowd gathers at the cemetery -- Recitative and aria of Father Laurence -- Brawling of Capulets and Montagues -- Oath of reconciliation

[a] The crowd gathers at the cemetery (Capulet and Montague choruses)


New England Conservatory Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded Apr. 23-24, 1961

[b] Recitative (Father Laurence and Capulet and Montague choruses)

At this point Father Laurence steps forward. He stuns the Capulet and Montague factions with a startling as well as horrific account of how the children come to be lying dead before them. There's an especially poignant moment at 0:24, when he cites his authority for the startling claim that the young lovers were married: He's the one who married them ("C'est moi qui les ai mariés").

FATHER LAURENCE: I'm going to lift the veil from the mystery.
This corpse, it was
the husband of Juliette. Do you see
that body stretched out on the ground?
That was the wife, alas!, of Roméo. I was the one
who married them.

CAPULETS and MONTAGUES: Married?

FATHER LAURENCE: Yes, I have to
admit it. I saw in it the hopeful pledge
of a future amity between your two houses.

CAPULETS and MONTAGUES: Friends of Montagues/Capulets -- us! We curse them!

FATHER LAURENCE: But you resumed the war of the families.
To escape another marriage, the unhappy girl,
in despair, came to find me.
"You alone," she cried, "could have saved me.
I have nothing left but to die." In this extreme peril,
I had her take, to cheat her fate,
a potion that, that very evening,
the pallor and cold of death.

CAPULETS and MONTAGUES: A potion!

FATHER LAURENCE: And I came here without fear
to rescue her.
But Roméo, deceived, arrived before me
within the burial walls, to die
on the body of his beloved;
and upon her reawakening Juliette, realizing
that death was lodged in his breast,
turned Roméo's dagger against herself,
and was passing into eternity
when I appeared -- there's the whole truth.

CAPULETS and MONTAGUES [with consternation]: Married!

Giorgio Tozzi, bass; New England Conservatory Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded Apr. 23-24, 1961

[c] Aria (Father Laurence)

Now the good father goes into (gorgeously) elegiac mode, but it isn't long before the rage bursts through again, at 2:52: "Where are they now?" ("Où sont-ils maintenant?"). With the air we have bass-baritone José van Dam taking over as our primary Father Laurence. Any number of perfectly estimable and honorable basses and bass-baritones have recorded this music, but van Dam seems to me truly without competition.

Short of a true bass with a free and easy upper range (hey, I can dream, can't I?), van Dam's bass-baritone is something close to the ideal voice for this music, having a smoothly, evenly, and beautifully knit compass with a modicum of basslike timbre and a full-bodied upper range that smartens excitingly when he's in his high-energy mode. He could be disappointingly casual at times, but when music like this induced him to really bring it, he could be a thrilling singer. We've already heard him in the final oath of reconciliation at the top of this post, and we're going to hear it again at the end -- he makes musical and dramatic sense of it in a way I've never heard anyone else even approach. I really don't have a second-place finisher.

FATHER LAURENCE: Poor children, for whom I weep,
fallen before your time,
on your somber resting place
posterity will come to weep!
Made great through you in history,
Verona one day, without believing in it,
will have its sorrow and its glory
in your memory alone.

Where are they now, these cowardly enemies?
Capulets! Montagues! Come, see, touch!
With hatred in your hearts, insults on your lips,
approach these pale lovers, barbarians!
God will punish you through your tender spots.
His chastisements, his avenging thunderbolts
will find the secret of our terrors!
Hear his voice, which thunders:
"So that on high my vengeance may pardon you,
forget your rage."

José van Dam, bass-baritone; New England Conservatory Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, cond. DG, recorded October 1975

[d] Brawling between Capulets and Montagues

The raging and mutual recriminations of the two factions give way to another great moment for Father Laurence, at 0:32: his "Silence, wretches!" ("Silence, malheureux!").

FATHER LAURENCE [with indignation]:
Silence, wretches! Can you without remorse,
in the face of such a love, vent such hatred?
Must your rage in this place break out,
rekindled by the torches of the dead?

Great God, who sees into the depths of the soul,
thou knowest if my pledges were pure.
[As he continues, the choruses join in, each family lamenting the other's lost child.]
Great God, with a spark of thy flame
touch these somber and hard hearts!
and may your enlightening breath,
rising toward them at my voice,
chase and dissipate their rage
like chaff at the will of the wind.

CAPULETS and MONTAGUES: What a strange miracle!
No more horror, no more bile!
Just tears from heaven!
Our whole soul is changed!

José van Dam, bass-baritone; New England Conservatory Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, cond. DG, recorded October 1975

Before we move on to the Oath, let's recap the Finale so far.

[a] through [d]


David Ward, bass; London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, cond. Westminster/MCA/DG, recorded June 1962

[e] Oath (Father Laurence and Capulet and Montague choruses)

We're going to let all three of our Father Laurences have a crack at this soaring conclusion.

FATHER LAURENCE: Swear then by this august symbol,
on the body of the maiden and the body of the son,
by this sorrowful wood that consoles,
swear all, swear by the sacred cross,
to fix between you an eternal chain
of tender charity, of fraternal amity;
and may God, who holds future judgment in His hand,
inscribe this oath in the book of pardon.

[CAPULETS and MONTAGUES sing their own versions of the above.]

Giorgio Tozzi, bass; New England Conservatory Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded Apr. 23-24, 1961


David Ward, bass; London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, cond. Westminster/MCA/DG, recorded June 1962


José van Dam, bass-baritone; New England Conservatory Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, cond. DG, recorded October 1975

Roméo et Juliette: Part III (complete)

Available for 99-cent download here.


Nicola Moscona, bass; Chorus, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, cond. Recorded live, Feb. 9 and 16, 1947

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