The juxtaposition of strings and brass in that thing is fearsome... and then the delicacy of the woodwinds picking up the theme later, a preview of wistful mourning before the battling families motif returns. I haven't listened to that for a long time... the recording I have of the Romeo and Juliet ballet suites is the one by Paavo Järvi w/ Cincinnati Symphony. I'm going to fish the CDs out tomorrow and play it on the rack system and decent speakers!
I actually saw that ballet live, in Tbilisi, over a decade ago, in the State Opera House on the Main Street (Rustaveli Avenue) in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The Georgians (their music is amazing, and a disproportionate number of seriously talented artists in the late Soviet Union - artists, musicians, jazz, movie directors, sculptors, ballet, etc - were Georgian - another minority who were disproportionately influential in the arts, were, of course, Jews) - have a culture where knife dances and sword dances feature, and where male bonding (or male competition) is emphasized.
Anyway, the Georgian interpretation of Prokofiev's ballet (based on Shakespeare's play) emphasized the fight between the families (the choreography of the sword fights was spectacular, - sparks came off those swords and the movement was magnificent - whereas the balcony scene, well, I have never seen such a perfunctory interpretation of the balcony scene) - with a silly, soppy, love story getting in the way of what really mattered, namely, the bone deep hatred between the two families - was fascinating, and yes, instructive.
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