Opera in two acts (1830)

Robert Carsen’s celebrated staging returns to the Paris Opera, with a stellar cast.

Bellini’s take on the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ story goes back, beyond Shakespeare, to the original Italian roots of the tale. In the very title chosen by Bellini, the families’ names have eclipsed those the star-crossed lovers, just as the conflict poisons their passion.

But the opera also revives a scene that Shakespeare omitted: when Juliet (Julie Fuchs) awakens in the tomb, she and Romeo (Anna Goryachova) are permitted a brief exchange before succumbing to eternal sleep.

Carsen sets the lyrical expression of these inextricably entwined lives in an austere decor illuminated by ardent love. A love transcended by Bellini's tender, dreamlike score. Speranza Scappucci conducts.