Shades of Shakespeare
showcase orchestra’s range

Few authors have achieved the immortality of William Shakespeare, whose works are still admired four centuries after they were written. Of these works, his "Romeo and Juliet" is among the most familiar stories in the world. The Honolulu Symphony began 2005 with three orchestral works based on the Shakespearean tragedy.

Romeo and Juliet The Honolulu Symphony presents an evening of masterpieces inspired by the illustrious star-crossed lovers. The concert continues today at the Blaisdell Concert Hall at 4 p.m. For tickets and information, call 792-2000 or go online at www.honolulusymphony.org

Though he died in 1616, Shakespeare's plays became wildly popular in the 19th century. The French composer Hector Berlioz credited a performance of "Romeo and Juliet" with changing his life. Not only did the work broaden his artistic outlook, it also introduced him to his future wife, Irish actress Harriet (not Henrietta) Smithson.

Hector Berlioz's "dramatic symphony" of Romeo and Juliet is a sprawling work that incorporates chorus and vocal soloists in four movements and 12 scenes. The orchestra played two sections (without vocalists) of contrasting character. The "Queen Mab Scherz" is a dazzling tour de force that features rapid figuration tossed from section to section. Despite some rough spots in the winds, the daring ploy of starting the concert with the evening's most challenging piece paid off for the orchestra.

The other excerpt was the love scene, which is as close to a memorable melody as can be found anywhere in Berlioz. The lush textures and unusual orchestra sonorities showed off the ensemble's strengths.

Tchaikovsky's "Overture to Romeo and Juliet" is the quintessential Romantic orchestral work. The Russian composer's youthful ardor and intemperate passion spill out of the piece in some of the most unabashedly emotional music ever written. The work is also "romantic" in that it is easy to imagine the lovers in the soaring melodies and catastrophic denouement. The winds and percussion played the syncopated rhythms of the allegro sections with impressive clarity, while the strings shaped the expansive melodies beautifully. Maestro Samuel Wong was in his element, building artistically shaped crescendos and urging the orchestra to thundering climaxes.

The second half consisted of selections from Prokofiev's two suites fashioned from music written for a ballet of "Romeo and Juliet." The orchestra clearly enjoyed the mercurial mood changes in the work, typified by the final three numbers: the wryly sarcastic "Masks," the lyrical "Romeo and Juliet" and the driving "Death of Tybalt."

The concert was interspersed with readings from the original Shakespeare play by eminent actor Terence Knapp. His emotional range touched and entertained the large audience.

All in all, the orchestra turned in some of its finest performances of the season; it would be well worth the effort to attend the Sunday performance if you were not present on Friday.