Norwegian National Opera Orchestra:
Feast during
a plague
Photo: Erik Berg
Feast in a time of fear
The contrasts between fear and survival have fascinated artists and poets of all eras, and few situations emphasise the paradoxes more starkly than a world in the grip of pandemic. From two extremes, this concert depicts a society in a state of emergency, through Prokofiev’s beautiful music from Romeo and Juliet to Gubaidulinas ecstatic orchestral work Feast During a Plague.
In the 16th century, plague swept across England, and Mr and Mrs Shakespeare barricaded themselves inside their home to protect their three-month-old son William. A few years before Romeo and Juliet was written in 1595/96, the country had been struck again by the Black Death. Theatres remained closed for more than a year, and 10,000 people died in London alone. Shakespeare’s entire life was clouded by the threat of new outbreaks, yet it is only in Romeo and Juliet that it is mentioned specifically. Juliet’s messenger is put into quarantine because of an outbreak of the plague, with the result that Romeo never learns that the death of his beloved was only an act.
Sergej Prokofjev: Romeo and Juliet
The heart-wrenching love story between the young couple from two families locked in a deep conflict never ceases to captivate us. Prokofiev composed the music to the ballet Romeo and Juliet in 1935, but the music was already familiar through the concert suites that he had held long before the premiere of the full ballet in 1940. Prokofiev wrote a total of three suites, and in this concert we get to hear the highlights from all of them.
Sofia Gubaidulina: Feast During a Plague (2005)
Feast during a plague is a work full of contrasts. Gubaidulina was heavily inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s novel of the same name, but where Pushkin’s story unfolded during a feast in a plague-stricken city, Gubaidulina took the symbolism a step further. She has created a musical portrait of modern life, the moral decay and the contrast between a world distorted by disease and those who choose to throw themselves into their own enjoyment and decadence.
In many ways, this vast orchestral work becomes a symbol of how suffering divides mankind into the privileged and the unfortunate, and how celebration can numb our awareness and senses and make the apocalypse seem less threatening.
/ The Norwegian National Opera Orchestra
/ Condutor Daniel Blendulf
- Wheelchair users must buy tickets by phone from the Oslo Opera House’s customer service centre: +47 21 42 21 21.
- We take infection control very seriously, and will be implementing appropriate procedures to protect the public and staff.