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Noon Edition

Pliés And Pirouettes Podcast

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This week on the Ether Game Weekly Music Quiz Podcast, we have a show that's raising the "barre" and very "en pointe." It's a show about ballet music we're calling "Pliés And Pirouettes." Can you name this danceable tune? (The answer is below) Remember to keep your ears out for a portion of Tuesday night's Teaser selection. And don't forget to tune into the full show on Tuesday, March 6th at 8:00pm for a chance to win a prize!

Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)

ROMEO AND JULIET: The Montagues and the Capulets

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Myung-Whun Chung, conductor

Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet (Deutsche Grammophon)



Few ballets caused more controversy than Sergei Prokofiev's adaptation of this Shakespearean romantic tragedy. In 1935, Prokofiev clashed with the management at the Bolshoi Theater when he wished to change the play's ending. He wanted to keep the lovers alive, complaining that "living people can dance, the dying cannot." Finally, the work was rejected, and Prokofiev found his works banned and himself severely censured by the Union of Composers. Stepping dangerously close to being labeled a "degenerate modernist" like his friend Shostakovich, Prokofiev decided to cave to political pressure and made revisions to the work. The ballet was finally performed in Leningrad in 1940 and would go on to receive international acclaim. His orchestral suites of the music also became standard symphonic repertoire. And this movement has been featured in countless movies and TV shows, including the theme to the British version of The Apprentice.

Music Heard On This Episode

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