As a ballet score Romeo and Juliet almost writes itself on to the stage, sound painting the street fights in swaggering detail. Yet if the colour and brio of Prokofiev's realism are a gift to choreographers, they work as well for concert goers who only have to close their eyes to imagine the story unfolding.
And this is why Rostrapovich's idea of a semi-staged performance of the work is so mad. To watch him conduct and to listen to the music are sufficiently theatrical in themselves. Why impose a bizarrely compromised half-ballet on to the experience?
Space is the limitation on Vladimir Vasiliev's efforts to choreograph 40 dancers from the Lithuanian National Ballet around the LSO. His cast perform on a cramped platform raised behind the orchestra, on a strip at the front, and along aisles between the musicians.
Set design is even more minimal though the dancers obviously wear costumes and so do the extra brass and percussion players who file on and off in hooded robes. But the biggest problem for dance in this set-up is holding its own against the visual drama of the orchestra and against the sense that an over enthusiastic kick is going to send a musician flying.
It is possible that another choreographer and another company would overcome these limitations in greater style. But Vasiliev's overblown mechanical choreography lacks sophistication. And though Egle Spokaite could well be a more interesting Juliet in another production, much of the supporting dancing is as scrappy as the acting. This is a performance to enjoy with your eyes shut.
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