Juliet: the best film images of Shakespeare's heroine and interesting facts.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, as you know, was very fond of children. He didn't like Shakespeare. He considered him a playwright "wrong", and his fame - undeserved. Since L.N. Tolstoy was a talented man, terribly stubborn, and at the same time he loved to teach everyone about life (a seasoned, in a word, turned out to be a human being), he even wrote three plays with overclocking: “The Power of Darkness”, “The Fruits of Enlightenment” and “Alive dead body". The plays turned out completely in the style of the author. Such stories from life with morality, for teaching. But they enjoyed success in the theater. Firstly, because of the name of the author, and secondly, because they were censored with great difficulty. However, these plays did not shake the opinions of the audience and directors about Shakespeare's mastery.

In his views on love, Lev Nikolayevich also radically disagreed with the English playwright. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine what would come out of his pen if he wished to rewrite, say, Romeo and Juliet. But, fortunately, he did not want to do this.

And then I remember an incident from cultural life city ​​of Leningrad in the late 1950s. Peter at that time was called "the cradle of three revolutions." In light of this, the local ideological leaders continued the line of the great art critic A.A. Zhdanov and pressed a thin layer of Leningrad cultural workers - Moscow never dreamed of such a thing.

But still it was time that went into Soviet history called "thaw". And even on the cold banks of the Neva, the crackling of ice was heard, and some progress began. The director of a Leningrad theater decided to stage Romeo and Juliet.

The theater was second rate. What did it mean? This meant that only pieces tested in two Moscow theaters were played here. drama theaters, which the late Stalin approved as exemplary: at the Maly Theater and at the Moscow Art Theater. These plays were all terribly boring, because nothing happened in them. Heroes Patriotic War died, but did not give up. Soviet workers and collective farmers, on the contrary, overcame difficulties and fulfilled their social obligations. The actors tried their best, but the hall was still empty. Financial plan rescued by schoolchildren, as well as soldiers and sailors who came to the theater with cultural trips. Actors really played out only on theatrical skits, and even in a few plays of the classical repertoire.

Romeo and Juliet - what could be more classic! So no one saw any particular sedition in the choice of the play for staging. It was hard to see the rebellion in the director's crazy plan to play Shakespeare in a purely realistic way. As if suddenly a play about two young lovers from Verona was written by Leo Tolstoy. The most mossy ideological oaks from Smolny were for realism with both hands. So even in the St. Petersburg swamps it could well have been born theatrical performance in the spirit of the films of Grigory Kozintsev and Franco Zefirelli, which appeared on the Soviet screen a few years later.

In order to delve deeper into the realities of Italy in the distant 14th century, our director asked for a consultation with the person who probably knew more about this country and about this time in Leningrad, Vitaly Nikolayevich Razumikhin.

Vitaly Nikolaevich was at that time sixty years old. He worked in the Italian department of the Hermitage. Among the Leningrad intelligentsia, whose circle, as it was said, was not very wide, legends were made about him. Moreover, they are quite contradictory. That he, as a young man, participated in the storming of the Winter Palace and was exactly the person who received all the former property on receipt royal family from the last pre-revolutionary director of the Hermitage, Count Dmitry Ivanovich Tolstoy. Then he, being a student at St. Petersburg University, fell in love with an Italian acrobat from the Cinizelli circus. And when the revolution began, together with this acrobat, he went somewhere to Florence. But there, a windy acrobat cheated on a young Russian lover with a certain son of a blacksmith and an aspiring leader of the socialist party named Benito Mussolini. Vitaly Nikolaevich broken hearted and returned to Petrograd in perfect Italian. Indirect confirmation of this legend was that Italian language Vitaly Nikolaevich knew no worse than Russian. Love - the best teacher, George Gordon Byron spoke about this.

Vitaly Nikolaevich greeted the guest cordially, and the request to become the scientific consultant of the performance was kind. The inspired director began to express his vision to him great play Shakespeare. The performers of the main roles, of course, must be young. For if the venerable forty-year-old Juliet, standing on the balcony sagging under her weight, plays out the appearance of the first girlish feeling, this is no longer a tragedy, but a comedy.

Evil tongues said that the director predicted his next passion, a student, for the role of Juliet theater institute. This girl was six years older than the fourteen-year-old heiress of the Capulet house. But of course, she could play Juliet. Women's articles she, a pale Leningrad dohlyatina, was still quite girlish. Tenderness and affection, they say, the girl possessed beyond measure. Which, probably, fascinated the director.

The same gossips it was rumored that the source of genuine love that she showed on stage was not so much an aging master as a candidate for the role of Romeo, a hot young actor from somewhere in the Caucasus. I must say that this young man in the role of a young aristocrat from Verona would look just perfect. Because he had a hot temperament, he was proud and proud beyond measure, and besides, he showed himself to be an excellent fighter and swordsman. As if with a saber, that is, with a sword, he was born. He had one drawback - a Caucasian accent that sometimes broke through in the course of the play. Having played, the boy ceased to control himself. Sometimes such a transition looked simply ridiculous. However, sometimes it was even touching. Many critics, they say, shed a tear from such an onslaught of unfeigned passion.

“I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. - Razumikhin said after listening to the enthusiastic director's enthusiastic speech. – Shakespeare and Kondo realism are two things that are incompatible. They had a man come out at the Globe Theater, put a sign “Seashore”, and everyone understood: the scene has changed, and you, as I understand it, want to sand the scenery, cooler than in Alexandrinka.

His dream - to stun the audience with luxurious scenery and expensive costumes - the director has already blurted out to Razumikhina.

“But that’s not even the point,” Razumikhin continued, destroying all the imaginary splendor that had just been erected before him. - The fact is that the story of two lovers from the warring clans, as it is described by Shakespeare, at the beginning of the 14th century in reality, most likely, could not have happened.

- Why? – the director squeaked. - It's the same eternal plot!

- The plot is eternal, but life twists it every time in a new way.

Apparently, the surprise and disappointment of the director were so great that Vitaly Nikolaevich decided to sweeten the pill.

We know very little about that time. Almost no written documents have been preserved. And all the materials that have come down to us have been sucked up to the last bone by midievists. The trouble is that there is nothing special to suck out there. ABOUT Everyday life a citizen of the same Verona, our information is terribly scarce. And this despite the fact that Verona in the 14th century was not a provincial city at all.

Most often, we judge the life of people in those days by analogy. In what houses, say, did they live in Verona? Probably in the same as in neighboring Padua, about the architecture of which we know something. What was served at the very feast where Romeo first saw Juliet? Probably the same as in one noble house in neighboring Vicenza, where, fortunately for us, a fire broke out in the 14th century. The fire was safely extinguished, the house was rebuilt, then it was destroyed several more times during the wars and restored again. And in the 19th century, archaeologists, tearing up these ruins, suddenly discovered half-burnt recipes, which were used five centuries ago by a cook in the very kitchen where the flames once took up. A world find, what are you! .. The famous cookbook of the Campioni family!

Now, if documents of that time were found somewhere else ... Yes, not chronicles, but the most despicable pieces of paper: accounts, cookbooks or accounting books, with notes in the margins ... Such a find would, perhaps, be another breakthrough in Italian medieval studies .

Here already Vitaly Nikolayevich almost sat down on his beloved humpbacked horse. But he came to his senses in time, dismounted.

So let's talk by analogy. Verona is a rather old city, dating back to Roman times. The Romans had a good custom - after twenty-five years of army service, give the legionnaires land and settle them in places where they had a chance to serve for the last time. So on all the outskirts of the empire, cities of the same type arose, small copies of the great Rome. Straight wide streets where two chariots could pass freely, a market square, baths, a temple, a circus. Everything you need for life. These cities, as I have already said, were scattered throughout the vast empire. So to speak, from the Arabian sands to the British seas. Verona was one such city-settlement in the foothills of the Alps.

Colonial cities copied not only appearance Rome, but also a way of life. Latin language, the temple of Jupiter or Juno, the Roman system of power and the Roman family.

In the Roman family, from our point of view, there were many strange things. It often included not only blood relatives, but relatives close, distant, and it happened, even accustomers and freed slaves. Roman adoption rules didn't take too much into account who was born of whom. Octavian Augustus was Julius Caesar's nephew, but was adopted by him in his will and became the main heir, and later emperor. In general, the more noble a Roman citizen was, the more extensive his family was and the more it looked like a military unit.

In fact, the head of the family, in his house, was endowed with almost unlimited power. The guilty family members were most often handed over to him, and he repaired the court and reprisal according to his own understanding. Even to kill the offender was completely in his power. Under certain conditions, a father could kill his son, and even more so, his daughter, and this was not considered a crime.

Why am I leading this? Moreover, even after the fall of Rome, the order in the colonial cities in the territory former empire remained Roman. They were copied even by barbarian conquerors who became kings, princes and dukes. So with a high degree of probability we can say: the warring patrician families in Verona, to which Romeo and Juliet belonged, were very similar to Roman family clans. That is, into small close-knit armies with the father-master-patron at the head.

The comparison with the army is quite appropriate here. All these urban patricians were constantly at war with each other. The reasons for the enmity were sometimes stupid, sometimes principled, and sometimes they were no longer visible in the darkness of the past years. Approximately as it is described by Shakespeare. Father Capulet is trying to remember when and why the quarrel began, but he can’t remember. But he knows at the level of a reflex: the Montagues are enemies. Remember how during the war: "Kill the German!"

And all his household members worked the same reflex. Servants (and according to the laws of the Roman family, in fact, members of the family) start a brawl simply because they met with enemies. In war - as in war! Here Shakespeare described everything plausibly.

- Of course, not a realist. Indeed, on this plausibility, his realism ends. In the main, he lied brilliantly. The most fantastic is the final scene, when the heads of the warring clans reconcile over the children's coffin. Trust me, in 14th century Verona, things would most likely be the other way around. In the fading fire of a long-standing squabble, the death of children would only add new poles.

Let's also remember that both Romeo and Juliet in their families-armies were not ordinary at all, but, so to speak, mid-level commanders. Heirs anyway. So, thanks to upbringing, the reflex: “Montagues are the enemy” in Juliet and “Capulets are the enemy” in Romeo should have turned on even faster than their servants. Basically, this is how it happens. Romeo sneaks into the ball at Juliet's house in search of thrill. For him, it's like making a sortie into enemy territory and returning safe and sound. True, in Verona, having been discovered in the Capulet house, he would not have paid with his life for this sortie. But in neighboring Venice, a young man could have been found stabbed to death in a canal in the morning quite calmly. In war - as in war!

However, the cunning Shakespeare, having brought his heroes together for the first time, did so that the reflex, which was almost unconditional for a medieval city dweller, was: “Alien is an enemy!” didn't work for them. Neither Romeo nor Juliet recognized the enemy, turned on the sexual instinct to the fullest extent of their young organisms, and the whole mess began, thanks to which we now revere Shakespeare as a great playwright, and Romeo and Juliet as his greatest play.

These cynical judgments noticeably jarred the director. But Razumikhin did not seem to notice this.

- Did you serve in the army? – He asked the interlocutor.

- No. For some reason, the director was confused. - Was evacuated along with the theater. to Sverdlovsk.

“However, it doesn't matter. What will a commander in a war do if his subordinate does not want to follow orders?

- Shoots.

– And if this subordinate also collided with the enemy?

- Shoot even more.

- Here is the future fate of Romeo and Juliet, if they behaved in the 14th century, as Shakespeare prescribed them at the end of the 16th century. Juliet, if she did not agree to marry Count Paris, at best would be sent to a monastery. And at worst, they could strangle.

- How so, strangle? Beloved daughter, heiress...

- Shakespeare simply does not show the numerous brothers and sisters of Juliet. As far as I remember, her mother began to give birth at the age of fourteen. Juliet was not the only one, and, quite possibly, not the most beloved. So, there is no doubt, they would strangle the disobedient with a pillow, strangled. At least to other children as a warning. And in the city they would say that the girl died from some pestilence. And they would have a grand funeral.

The same with Romeo. At best, don't give a fuck forbidden love, he would have been expelled from Verona. Fate, to put it bluntly, is unenviable for a young man from a noble family. What to do in this case? Unless to go to the robbers or to hire the condottieri. However, it was almost the same. And in the worst case, a faithful servant or the same friend of Mercutio could well have pinned the stubborn with a stiletto on the orders of Papa Montecchi. Or even mothers. Judging by some places in the text, it was she who ran the house. Also, by the way, it was quite an everyday thing for Italy at that time. The last ruler of Florence was just a woman, Martha Martha.

So - I will not object - Shakespeare is very realist in details.

The director sat in dismay. Razumikhin, with a smile, rolled him in the mud cherished dream. And it looked like he was going to continue.

“In fact, Shakespeare wrote the most perfect fantasy. He himself, apparently, knew that nothing similar could happen in the 14th century either in Verona, or in Italy, and, perhaps, nowhere in Europe. And the audience probably knew it. But, in the end, they did not come to listen to a lecture, but to watch a fairy tale. For that, they paid money at the cash desk. That is why Shakespeare did not tire himself or his audience with realism. Such fairy tales weaved, which is simply a pleasure!

And he got his way, you bastard! Shakespeare's audience sobbed, watching the tale of wrong, but terribly beautiful and touching young love. Moreover, they fell in love with this fairy tale and picked it up.

The director left the Hermitage disappointed. Frustrated and angry at Razumikhin for the fact that the professor casually crushed his dream: to create a performance that everyone would talk about.

The discouraged director, as it should be with creative people, went to pour melancholy into the restaurant of the Actor's House. Here, he met with one of his colleagues. Over a decanter of vodka and a Kiev cutlet, they told each other the latest gossip from St. Petersburg, washed the bones of all acquaintances and strangers. Among other things, they also discussed the newly appointed head of the Lenconcert, Yuri Sergeevich Yursky, who seems to be a good guy. True, before that, more and more managing circuses. Well, yes, our whole life is a continuous circus.

Frustration is definitely a destructive feeling. But anger sometimes works wonders. When the drunken director was returning home after dinner at a restaurant, he got lost and miraculously went to Senate Square. Here the director looks at Bronze Horseman and remembered his conversation with Razumikhin. The memory of this conversation angered the already thoroughly chilled poor fellow. He still did not want to admit to himself that it was not he who was right, but the professor. That is why he became more and more angry with Razumikhin. Anger resulted in a completely stupid and pictorial gesture. The director, like the poor hero of a Pushkin poem, exclaimed:

- You already!

However, the threat was not addressed to the bronze Peter I, but most likely to Razumikhin. Because the director at the same time shook his fist at the Hermitage, turning somewhere in the direction of the Winter Palace.

So what? Never mind. But after a few months, the director realized his dream. He directed Romeo and Juliet. And put, indeed, unusual. It can be said, in a minimalist manner, staged. No rich decorations. No decorations at all. And no flashy costumes. No costumes at all. The actors played in tights. “They run around the stage naked,” the ticket attendants of the Leningrad Philharmonic told their acquaintances who dreamed of getting to the performance.

Why Lenphilharmonic? Because the "concert version" of Shakespeare's great play was taken under his wing by the director of the Lenconcert. And he took it firmly, protecting it from the idiots from Smolny, who wanted to cover up this disgrace just in case.

There were very few actors who agreed to this experiment. And they were mostly young actors. They were not embarrassed to run around the empty stage almost naked. They were not embarrassed to combine several roles at once. And they gave their best in every performance. Because if they didn't give it their all, something terrible could happen - the audience would start laughing. And he naturally sobbed at the end of each performance. Wept and clapped.

How, probably, the audience of the Globe Theater, the first spectators of the great Shakespearean tragedy, sobbed and applauded.

Composer Nino Rota Editing Reginald Mills Operator Pasqualino De Santis Dubbing director George Kalitievskiy Screenwriters Franco Brusati, Masolino D'amico, Franco Zeffirelli, more Artists Lorenzo Mongiardino, Emilio Carcano , Luciano Puccini , more

Do you know that

• The director of the film, Franco Zeffirelli, can be said to have "run in" his future film adaptation at the venues of the world's theaters: first, he presented the stage version, where John Stride and Judi Dench played the main characters, on the stage of the London Old Vic, and then showed an immortal tragedy in Verona and Rome. To the court of Soviet lovers theatrical art the production was presented 2 years before the release of the cinematic version - in 1966.
• The musical accompaniment of the performance belongs to the talent Italian composer Nino Rota, it became the basis of the soundtrack for the film itself, however, here a number of new themes were added to it.
• At one time there were persistent rumors that the actress who played the main female role- Olivia Hussey - has to native daughter the director of the tape, which, of course, was not true. Moreover, at the first casting, Zeffirelli even rejected the girl’s candidacy, considering her plump for this type. However, a happy accident helped to get the role of Olivia: the actress chosen as the performer of the character of Juliet cut her hair, which greatly displeased Zeffirelli. On the second viewing, a completely different Hussie appeared before him - a girl who had built up and, as the director now saw, was suitable for this role.
• Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet was the first serious film version of Shakespeare's play, where the main performers were actors who, in their age, were very close to the tragic characters. By the way, the director of the picture had to obtain special permission to make a "strawberry" in his offspring - to demonstrate Juliet's bare breasts.
• In the USSR, as polls of film fans showed, this film was named the best premiere, and the performer leading role won the Audience Choice Award.
• The director categorically forbade Hussie to eat spaghetti during the filming of the film, fearing that she would not get fat.
• The performers of the main characters transferred romantic relationships on the screen to real life: After the end of the production of the film, they dated for a year. The long distance (they lived on different continents - America and Foggy Albion) and high workload led to the gradual fading of the actors' love feelings: after the release of the picture, Whiting and Hussey, who became stars, simply fell in a stream tempting offers However, they are still good friends to this day.
• In the capital of Great Britain, Olivia Hussey was forbidden to take part in the presentation of the premiere of this picture for a very good reason: the girl has not yet reached the age of majority (18 years old), and in the tape, as you know, there are episodes where movie characters appear naked.
• The text of the author in the film belongs to Laurence Olivier, who, by the way, refused the fee due to him, noting that it was a tribute to art, and first of all, love for the genius of W. Shakespeare.
• As a designer stage costumes performed by Danilo Donati, who received worldwide recognition for his work in the form of an Oscar film award. All the robes were made superbly and fully conveyed the fashion of that historical era. At the same time, their creation took many meters of luxurious fabrics - cuts of velvet and brocade. Sometimes costume “armor”, embellished with metallized ribbons and other attributes, weighed up to 25 kg, so it cannot but surprise the fact with which ease and grace the actors moved in them, given the heat during the filming.

More facts (+7)

Plot

Beware, the text may contain spoilers!

Romeo, the son of the head of the warring Montague clan, secretly enters the house of the noble Capulet family from the city of Verona during a family celebration. In the palace, the young man meets Juliet, the daughter of the host of the festival, who will soon tie the knot with Count Paris. Ironically, a violent flare-up breaks out between teenagers. love feeling: they indulge in intimacy that forever unites their bodies and souls.

Meanwhile, Romeo in the castle is noticed by Tybalt, the nephew of the House of Capulet, who after that intends to challenge the impudent man to a duel. Such an opportunity is given to him in the city market, where Romeo is in a great mood after a secret wedding with Juliet. For the honor of a friend, Camuzio stands up, but receives a mortal wound. Tormented by a thirst for revenge, Montague enters into a fight with Tybalt and kills him.

For the crime he committed, Romeo is expelled from hometown to Mantua; Juliet, according to the will of her parents, should become the wife of another. However, the monk Lorenzo, the friend and mentor of the young man, implements a cunning plan: he gives Juliet a special drug that causes the girl to Sopor. By family tradition the girl must be buried in the ancestral crypt, where she, waking up, will be able to escape, forever united with her beloved.

It would seem that the happiness of the young is already close, but Romeo finds out about the imaginary death of Juliet before the messenger from Lorenzo warns him about the staging. He finds himself at the allegedly cooled body of his beloved and plunges a dagger into his heart. The monk is trying to take the awakened girl away from the scene of the tragedy, but life without Romeo is meaningless for her, and she repeats his fate.

Now the lovers are together forever, and the warring families, heartbroken, reconcile with each other.

Musical "Romeo and Juliet"

“There is no sadder story in the world ...” - William Shakespeare summed up one of the best literary tragedies. Several centuries later, the creators of the musical "Romeo and Juliet" would not agree with this. The French interpretation of the British play spread all over the world and brought them great fame and millions in royalties. And for many performers, it was also a successful start to a vocal career.

A summary of the musical "Romeo and Juliet" and many interesting facts about this work, read on our page.

Summary

The Prince of Verona introduces the main characters and talks about years of enmity Montagues and Capulets. In her bedroom, Juliet dreams of love while her father arranges marriage with Paris.

A ball is planned at the Capulet house, and Romeo's friends persuade him to go there incognito. At young man bad premonitions, but he appears in the house of enemies. At the ball, Romeo and Juliet fall in love, but Tybalt exposes Romeo, and Juliet finds out that Montecchi has become her chosen one.

Romeo comes to Juliet under the balcony, and they reveal their feelings to each other. The young man agrees with his brother Lorenzo on a secret wedding. He agrees to do it for love. Romeo conveys the news of this to his beloved through the Nurse, under the cover of night they are married.

Romeo's friends, having learned that he married Capulet, declare him a traitor. Tybalt is burning with a thirst for revenge and is looking for Romeo, but he finds Mercutio, with whom he has a conflict. A weapon is used, and Tybalt mortally wounds his opponent. Romeo loses his head from grief and plunges a knife into the murderer.

In both Verona families, mourning, the Prince decides to expel Romeo from Verona in order to calm the Capuleti, who are thirsty for revenge. Romeo spends the night before exile with Juliet, and the next morning her parents announce that tomorrow she will become Paris's wife.

Juliet turns to Lorenzo's brother for help, who gives her a sleeping tincture. She drinks it and doesn't wake up in the morning. The nurse, finding her motionless, decides that she is dead. Lorenzo's brother informs Romeo in a letter of the plan they have conceived, but Benvolio arrives at his friend's place early and tells of Juliet's death. A shocked Romeo sees his beloved in the family crypt and accepts the kiss of Death. Juliet wakes up and is horrified to find dead Romeo nearby. Out of desperation, she is stabbed to death with his dagger. Brother Lorenzo finds them. For the first time he wavered in his faith, seeing such a tragic injustice. Over the bodies of their children, the Montagues and the Capulets decide to reconcile.

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Interesting Facts

• The original version of the musical is called Romeo and Juliet: From Hate to Love. The 2010 version is Romeo and Juliet, Children of Verona.
• Since the role of Death is absent in many productions, Romeo's death is solved in different ways: he drinks poison, is stabbed with a dagger, and in the Hungarian version he even hangs himself.

• A small part of the Poet is also often excluded from productions.
• In the 2010 revival, the role of Juliet was played by Joy Esther, the actual wife of Romeo's Damien Sarga. It is interesting that when Sarg acted as Phoebus in the dubbing part of the musical Notre Dame de Paris, he had a personal relationship with Helen Segara - Esmeralda.
• For the 2010 performance, Presgurvik wrote 6 new numbers: a new version"Tu dois te marier" (Lady Capulet's aria), "Tybalt" (Tybalt's aria), "A la vie, a la mort" (Benvolio and Mercutio duet), "Verone II" (Prince's aria), "Avoir 20 ans" (final number) and "On prie" (duet of Romeo and Juliet). The last two songs were also released as singles.
• Over the years, performances of Romeo and Juliet have been attended by 2 million spectators in France and 5 million worldwide. The CD and DVD versions of the musical have sold over 14 million copies.

• Both were released on DVD. French versions musical - 2001 and 2010. There is also a recording of an Italian performance that took place in 2014 under open sky at the Arena di Verona.
• In 2003, Presgurvik released the musical Gone with the Wind, in which his daughter, Laura, played the role of Scarlett O'Hara. The performance ran for three months on the stage of the Paris Sports Palace, but, despite the successful melodies, did not adequately reflect the spirit cult novel M. Mitchell, turned out to be somewhat more lightweight than the original source, and did not gain the fame of Romeo and Juliet.
• Several large-scale Asian tours of the musical speak of its unconditional popularity in these countries. In 2018, as part of the next tour, viewers will again see Damien Sarga in the role of Romeo.
• In the Russian production, one of the performers of the role of Death was National artist Russian Nikolai Tsiskaridze. His voice is also heard in the prologue.

Best numbers

Les Rois du monde("Kings of night Verona").The dynamic trio of Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio. The most popular composition from the musical, which became famous in many countries even before the start of productions. IN Russian version performed by A. Alexandrin, S. Lee, A. Postolenko.

"Les Rois du monde" (listen)

"Aimer"(“Blessing” or “Happiness”).This wonderful melody set the tone for the entire musical, since it was precisely this melody that J. Presgurvik wrote the very first.

"Aimer" (listen)

"Avoir une fille"("Father and daughter").The most poignant aria of the musical. The father's anxiety for his daughter, regrets about how quickly she became an adult, and in her heart he was no longer assigned such great place, like before. It was this aria performed by A. Marakulin that was chosen for the presentation of the Russian version of Romeo and Juliet.

"Avoir une fille" (listen)

History of creation and productions

French musician Gerard Presgurvik was well over 40 when he single-handedly wrote the musical Romeo and Juliet. The idea was submitted by the composer's wife, and the path to recognition was paved by Notre Dame de Paris, staged three years earlier - it was to them that Paris, almost 20 years after Les Misérables, announced itself as the world capital of the musical, on a par with London and New York. York. But if, in the case of Notre Dame de Paris, the French took advantage of their classic plot, then Presgurvik was simply lucky that the super-popular story of young lovers before him did not attract the attention of any of the masters of British musical theater. Music work was completed in 1999. The composer also wrote all the poems and spoken passages himself, relying on Shakespeare's text, but presenting his own view of the events of the tragedy. Several songs ("Aimer", "Les Rois du monde") were recorded and released as singles, becoming world hits even before the stage version was released.

On January 19, 2001, the premiere took place at the Palais des Congrès. The famous French choreographer Reda became the director and choreographer of the performance. Damien Sargue (Romeo) and Cecilia Cara (Juliet) performed in the title roles. Sarg was known to the public because he performed the parts of Gringoire and Phoebus in the musical Notre Dame de Paris. Presgurvik, who also saw these works, did not imagine any other Romeo. Cecilia Cara was a young girl from Cannes who, at the age of 14, made herself known in a television vocal competition, and at 16 brilliantly auditioned for the role of Juliet. In Paris and on tour in the cities of France, the performance ran for almost 2 years. The musical has been translated into more than 10 languages, and fundamental changes have been made to the score for productions in some countries.

The love story of Romeo and Juliet, told by Shakespeare many centuries ago, does not leave anyone indifferent. The tragedy of William Shakespeare, which tells about the love of a young man and a girl from two ancient warring families - the Montagues and the Capulets. The composition is usually dated to 1594-1595. The history of the Italian city of Verona has its roots in the days of the Roman Empire. But the most famous inhabitants of Verona are still the young Romeo and Juliet, whose love for each other was immortalized by the genius of William Shakespeare. In 1957, Shakespeare's play was published under the title The Excellently Invented Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

Images of "unfortunate lovers" are found already in the era of Antiquity, for example, in Greek poem"Antia and Abrokom" by Xenophon of Aeneas (2nd century). Moreover, in 2007, Italian archaeologists, 40 kilometers from Verona, discovered a burial in which lay two skeletons hugging each other, male and female, more precisely, youthful and girlish, since they had completely healthy teeth. It turned out that the skeletons are more than 5 thousand years old. It cannot be ruled out that some unbearably sad event happened to young people during their lifetime, which killed them both.

The first about young lovers bearing the names of Romeo and Juliet - the offspring of the warring families of the Montagues and Capuleti - was spoken in 1531 by the Italians Luigi da Porto in his "Story of Two Noble Lovers". A quarter of a century later, another Italian, Matteo Bandello, freely outlined this plot in the Novels, where all the main characters tragedy. Here are the Montecchi and Capulet families, and the "good monk" Fra Lorenzo, and Tebaldo, "Juliet's cousin ... encouraging not to spare anyone from the Montagues", and Marcuccio, whom everyone "loved for his sharp tongue and all sorts of jokes", and Juliet's fiancé - "Rich and handsome" Count Paris.

Bandello's Novellas were translated into French, and from French to English, after which the poet Arthur Brook outlined the same plot in the poem " tragic story Romeus and Juliet" (1562). Many researchers believe that since Shakespeare's masterpiece contains a lot of parallels with Brooke's poem, it is quite clear that he borrowed the plot.

The bloody feud of the ancient families of Verona, because of which the young lovers died, is not fiction. In the XII-XIV centuries, the city republics in Italy were torn apart by squabbles and the struggle for power between aristocratic families. The great Dante Alighieri in " Divine Comedy”, mentioning this endless enmity, writes, referring to Emperor Albrecht:
“Come, infinite, just cast a glance: Monaldi, Philippeski, Capuleti, Montecchi,
- those in tears, and those trembling.

And yet, all attempts to find references in reliable sources to the existence of these families were in vain. But relatively recently, Cecil Cliff, a professor at the University of Liverpool, who studied archival documents related to the life of Luigi da Porto, brought a new version.

Luigi was born near Verona, in Vicenza, in 1485, into an aristocratic family. At the age of 26, he, with the rank of cavalry captain, went to serve in the province of Friuli (on the border with Austria), where the Savorgnan family was the most influential. Some of the members of this family had a weakness for the Austrian emperor Maximilian, others were adherents Republic of Venice. Their meetings often ended in quarrels, fights, duels and even murders.

One day, Luigi was invited to a party at the Savorgnan family estate. There he first saw Lucina, who had just turned 15 years old. Love at first sight broke out between young people. However, matchmaking was out of the question: Yes, Porto was a representative of the Austrian army, and Lucina's parents were ardent republicans. Secretly from them, the girl met with Luigi. They exchanged messages and gifts.

Over time, between Venice and Austria unfolded real war. Relations in the Savornyan family escalated sharply, and when one of the heirs of the family was killed, it was decided to reconcile the warring factions by marrying Lucina and her blacksmith Francesco. The girl protested, but her parents were adamant.

Upon learning of this, Luigi almost committed suicide. He retired and took up literary work. His very first novel, The Story of Two Noble Lovers, brought him success. In it, he spoke about the warring families of the Capuleti and Montagues from Verona and the unhappy love of Romeo and Juliet, by whose name the author meant himself and Lucina.

Shakespeare was wrong: there is a story sadder than Romeo and Juliet. Her main sadness is that she is real. Long before the appearance of the play, a genuine drama unfolded before the eyes of non-fictional characters. Who was the prototype of the most popular in literary world couples?

Of course, one cannot unequivocally state what exactly Shakespeare was inspired by. However, there historical facts which leave their imprint on the minds and imagination of the great creators. This tragedy began with the fact that there was a king of Portugal, Afonso IV the Brave, who had a son in 1320. His name was Pedro. It was he who became the hero of the most dramatic story love in your country.

When Pedro was 14 years old, his father decided to marry him to the Spanish princess Constance. Everything would be fine, but the young man was in love with one of her ladies-in-waiting - a blond girl named Ines de Castro. In the first place, the prince had duty, not feelings. Therefore, obeying his father, he married Constance. However, this union did not prevent him from building relationships with a pretty maid of honor in parallel. When, in 1345, his lawful wife prematurely left this world, the prince considered this a blessing on love.

Pedro did not hide his relationship with the maid of honor, which incredibly angered the king, who planned a second dynastic marriage for his son. By all means, Afonso IV was determined to separate the lovers. While the king was thinking how to organize new marriage, the couple began to live together. Ines managed to give birth to the prince of four children. Surprisingly, unlike the legitimate son Pedro, Ines' children grew up healthy. This fact also worried Afonso IV, who made sure that the future heir was a worthy contender for the throne, and not a half-breed. Intent on protecting the dynasty, he decided to imprison Ines.

Ines de Castro asked Afonso IV to spare her. She was ready for life exile, if only her children, and, by the way, his grandchildren, were not left without a mother. However, the king was adamant - the woman was killed in front of the children.

Pedro was furious. The conflict led to a two-year civil war, where the prince became the instigator of the split, speaking out against his father. The point in the dispute was put in 1357 - Afonso IV died, and Pedro became the king of Portugal. First of all, he found the killers of his beloved and punished them: on charges of their heartlessness in literally this word was deprived of hearts.

The hand of the dead queen, seated on the throne, was kissed by all the courtiers

Later, Pedro nevertheless buried his beloved in the church of the monastery of Alcubas. Opposite, another sarcophagus was made, in which, after death, Pedro himself was supposed to lie.

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