Where We Lay Our Scene: A San Diego Symphony Romeo and Juliet

Rafael Payare, conductor
Emanuel Ax, piano
Gerard McBurney, director
Mike Tutaj, projections

MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503
PROKOFIEV: Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 Ballet (G. McBurney compilation)

“It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear!
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale!"

A new musical-theatrical vision brings color, light and drama to our new hall in a delicious melding of the immortal ballet-music of Prokofiev together with the world-famous poetry of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that inspired it. Chicago-based projections-artist Mike Tutaj will transform the walls and space of the Jacobs Music Center into a magical playground for the imagination. The Russian composer’s glittering orchestration will make our new acoustic chamber tremble like a bell, and a selection of established theatre talents will bring alive the story of this much-loved tragedy of two young lovers destroyed by hate and enmity. Before this, legendary pianist Emanuel Ax will join Rafael Payare and the SDSO for one of the most sumptuous concertos by the most theatrical of all composers, Mozart. A great writer once said, “All Mozart’s concertos are operas in miniature,” and this particular concerto runs the gamut from imperial grandeur and celebration to childlike innocence and sorrow.

Joel Shier, lighting designer