Charles Gounod composed the opera "Romeo and Juliet," known as "Romo et Juliette" in French, to a libretto written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carr. They, in turn, based their libretto on the play by William Shakespeare.
"Romeo and Juliet" opened at the Thtre Lyrique in Paris on April 27, 1867. It falls into the Grand Opera style and was in fact performed at the Paris Grand Opra on Nov. 28, 1888. French audiences loved the opera at once, although it gained popularity far more slowly elsewhere.
"Romeo and Juliet" Original Cast The original cast of "Romeo and Juliet" included: Frre Laurent, the bass part, was played by Cazaux.Marie Caroline Miolan-Carvalho, the wife of the theater director, played the soprano role of Juliet.Pierre Michot played Romeo, the tenor role.The baritone role of Mercutio was played by Auguste Barr.
The original cast of "Romeo and Juliet" included:
Perhaps not surprisingly, the plot summary of this opera remains extremely close to Shakespeare''s "Romeo and Juliet," sometimes even using text directly from Shakespeare''s play.
Act I opens in the Capulets'' grand hall during a celebration. Tybalt talks to Count Paris about Juliet. She then enters herself with her father, Count Capulet, who welcomes the guests.
As in the play, Romeo, Mercutio, Benvolio and their friends enter the party wearing masks. Mercutio sings of Queen Mab, drawing on the play''s famous monologue.
Juliet''s nurse leaves her alone for a moment. During this time she meets Romeo. They fall instantly in love with a beautiful duet. Tybalt sees him and suspects this is the son of their enemy, the Montagues, and wants to attack him, but Count Capulet intervenes and won''t allow harm to befall any guest in his home.
In Act II, which opens on the balcony scene, a new character not found in Shakespeare''s play enters the opera: Stephano, Romeo''s page. He holds a ladder for Romeo, allowing him to climb to the balcony.
To keep this act from being dominated by too many love duets, Gounod interrupts them briefly by having some Capulet servants, led by Gregory, see Stephano fleeing the garden and search unsuccessfully for an intruder.
Act III has two parts. In part one, Friar Lawrence marries Romeo and Juliet.
In part, two the fights ensue. Gregory and Stephano fight as more friends arrive. Tybalt kills Mercutio, and then Romeo kills Tybalt. As a result, Romeo is banished from Verona by the duke.
Romeo bids goodbye to Juliet at the beginning of Act IV, with the libretto of the opera mirroring Shakespeare''s beautiful scene of whether the parting lovers hear the nightingale or the lark.
But this plot summary now breaks from the play somewhat. Before dying, Tybalt whispered a dying wish to Count Capulet that Juliet should marry Paris. Her father arrives in her room with Friar Lawrence just after Romeo''s departure to tell her of the impending marriage. Then the synopsis returns to the play, with Friar Lawrence giving Juliet the potion to make her appear dead.
Drawing on the Grand Opera style, this act ends with a ballet as guests prepare for the wedding. At the conclusion of the ballet Juliet drinks the potion and falls to the ground.
The fifth and final act takes place in the Capulets'' tomb, where Romeo finds Juliet and, believing her dead, drinks poison. This is followed by Juliet waking and plunging Romeo''s dagger into her heart.
Unlike the play, in the opera the lovers share a final duet in those moments between Juliet waking up and Romeo''s poison taking effect. It''s a hopeful duet of their plans for the future, and only toward its conclusion does Juliet realize that Romeo is, in fact, dying. He tries to comfort her, but she will not live without him and, thus, stabs herself just as he dies.
The authors of this libretto, Jules Barbier and Michel Carr, also wrote the libretto of "Faust," thus inviting direct comparisons between these two Gounod operas. Outside of France, "Faust" achieved much greater popularity, although within France many regard "Romeo and Juliet" as Gounod''s best work.
Music with Ease (n.d.) Romeo and Juliet — Synopsis. Retrieved January 16, 2008, from the Music with Ease Web site: http://www.musicwithease.com/gounod-romeo-juliet-2.html.