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West Side Story with Kiri Te Kanawa and José Carreras conducted by Leonard Bernstein
CD06 van 111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon: The Collector's Edition 1 (55CD)
On January 9, 1949, Leonard Bernstein entered this into his log: "Jerry R. [Robbins] called today with a noble idea: a modern version of Romeo and Juliet set in slums at the coincidence of Easter-Passover celebrations. Feelings run high between Jews and Catholics. Former: Capulets; latter: Montagues. Juliet is Jewish." The newly formed State of Israel and the resultant war made the idea topical, and Bernstein, of Jewish descent, was familiar with Catholicism.