ROMEO et JULIETTE

The beautiful story of “Romeo & Juliette” by William Shakespeare
was first published in 1597. Since then the two lovers have lived
in a great number of masterpieces created by a great number of masters.
The opera “Romeo & Juliette” of Operosa Balkanika is a showcase
which will reach new and wider audiences with planned performances
in Serbia and Macedonia as well as Bulgaria.

Only two, of all the operas of Gounod, can be regarded as unmistakable successes: "Faust" (1858) and "Romeo et Juliette" (1864). The first performance of "Romeo et Juliette" was at the Theatre Lyrique on April 27, 1867. It was a dazzling premiere; and this time at least the composer
had not to wait before reaping his laurels. The opera was played
for a hundred consecutive nights! It was revived at the Opera Comique
in 1873, and held its place in the repertoire for fifteen years.
In London, "Romeo et Juliette" was included in Mme. Adelina Patti’s repertoire in an Italian version, but it was not until 1889, when
Sir Augustus Harris staged it in the original French, that it became the rage.

The subject of "Romeo et Juliette" had been exploited by many composers before Gounod touched it, but he has eclipsed all previous efforts. The composer’s librettists Barbier and Carre have followed Shakespeare’s version
of the story of Romeo and Juliette very closely. Gounod’s music admirably illustrates the subject. The plot is practically a succession of love-duets;
and it is love - dreamy, languorous, tender, and voluptuous, a thing woven
of moonlight - that is chiefly pictured in the score. For this Gounod,
as the reader will have already gathered, was peculiarly suited by temperament.
A French interviewer, describing him in his study, said that there was always something feminine about him; remarking at the same time the charming persuasiveness and sweet, mellow-toned, unctuous eloquence of his speech.
These characteristics are seen in both Gounod’s great operas, but more especially - and naturally, from the nature of the theme - in "Romeo et Juliette". The music as a whole lacks continuity, but this is lost sight of in the passion and interest and beauty of the single numbers. The scene in Juliet’s room is delightfully tender, and the balcony duet is melodious and expressive. There is a showy waltz-arietta for Juliet at the ball, and a striking solo for Friar Laurence, with a strong trio and quartet following. The charming madrigal for two voices in the first Act, and the tragic scene in the tomb, with its profound melancholy, are also worth noting.