This day marks the anniversary of the premiere of Tchaikovsky‘s Romeo and Juliet, an ‘Overture-Fantasy’ marking the pinnacle of his inspiration from the plays of William Shakespeare.

Although one of his most successful works nowadays, the work had a tricky genesis – the reaction to its premiere in Moscow in 1870 was lukewarm to say the least. Two more revisions followed, the last of which we can hear in this white hot live version from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein:

Published post no.2,475 – Sunday 16 March 2025