Conductor: Chloe Rooke
Soloist: Dana Zemtsov (viola)
It was an inspired performance of Prokofiev’s ballet music for Romeo and Juliet that lifted this concert above the normally excellent level expected of the Orchestra of Opera North. Guest Conductor Chloe Rooke, in her pleasing spoken introductions, had already praised the virtuosity of the orchestra and expressed her enthusiasm for the Prokofiev ballet music. Now the two came together.
Prokofiev was having a frustrating time in the mid-30s trying to get his ballet staged and decided to make two orchestral suites from the music. Eventually, long after the ballet was finally staged, he arranged some more pieces into a third suite. The music the Orchestra of Opera North played consisted of eight pieces taken from all three suites and proceeded through the story of Romeo and Juliet, roughly chronologically.
A huge orchestra, including tenor saxophone and five percussionists constantly switching instruments, achieved remarkable effects. Among the less well known pieces were Morning Dance, expressing all the joy before the tragedy, Masks (Romeo and chums at the Capulets’ dance) with percussionists and woodwind players getting a chance to spread out, and the totally delightful Friar Laurence, bassoon and tuba giving him an affectionate dignity.
However, it was the familiar pieces that held the audience spellbound. Montagues and Capulets was stunning, the great theme delivered in stirring brass phrases, with constant variation of supporting instruments (percussion, horns, in the reprise even the saxophone). After this introductory movement we relaxed, savoured the playful Young Juliet, before another, even more dramatic outburst: The Death of Tybalt. Frantic chase music gave way to a mesmeric rhythm on timpani, with ever more aggressive phrases from different packs of instruments on top and percussion gradually building in the background – and we were in no doubt as to his moment of death. After that we could only share, in writing both sensitive and immediate, in Romeo’s grief over Juliet’s dead body.
All in all, it was a remarkable performance.
Immediately before that, The Ring of Fire and Love by Outi Tarkiainen, a contemporary Finnish composer (from Lapland, in fact) explored the moment of birth. Again the virtuosity shone through in an impressive, if not immediately appealing, piece. Ultra-high notes from violin, supported by flute, booming timpani and a knowing ticking from harp characterised the early stages; the brass crashed in, with percussion emphasising the drama of the event; eventually a smooth pattern emerged, with that ticking still going on. As one piece in four, it certainly contributed to the evening, not least in warming the orchestra up for their tremendous assault on Prokofiev,
The first half had included two 20th century English works. Edward Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro for Stringsis a favourite on the radio and, as with the familiar Prokofiev movements, it became obvious that that is no substitute for the concert hall. Oddly enough, this very English piece has, as a major theme, what Elgar termed a “Welsh theme” which came to him on holiday in Cardiganshire. What emerges in concert is the role, interacting with the main orchestra, of the string quartet: in this case, beautifully played by Katie Stillman, Katherine New, David Aspin, and, in her final concert after 14 years with the orchestra, Jessica Burroughs.
William Walton’s Viola Concerto from 1928 (revised 1961) benefitted from the poise and sensitivity of Dana Zemtsov. It’s an interesting piece, beginning with romanticism (one section marked “dreamily”), Zemtsov draining every ounce of emotion, before in the second movement Walton turns to jazzy syncopation, keeping the orchestra on a tight rein whenever the soloist features. Finally we head for home with a wonderful orchestral passage of fugal writing before the soloist reasserts the gentle mood.
Reviewed on 4th December 2025
