Though present-day revivals of Roméo et Juliette are sporadic, it was once more popular than Faust. Along with the even rarer Mireille, these operas are the only survivors of Charles François Gounod’s output. In his lifetime, the composer’s lyric gift and the French addiction to opera kept him busy writing for the stage, though he was also active in the symphonic and religious arenas, and his reputation eventually rivaled Meyerbeer’s.
After studying at the Paris Conservatory under Halévy and Paer, Gounod won a Prix de Rome in 1839. He returned from his sojourn in Italy by way of Germany and Austria, where he was impressed by Schumann and encouraged by Mendelssohn. Always “hovering between mysticism and voluptuousness,” Gounod studied theology for two years and abstained from holy orders only when convinced he could have a musical career.
Shakespeare’s tale of ill-starred love has been adapted often for the opera stage, both before and after Gounod. The best-known versions are those of Vaccai (1825), Bellini (1830), Zandonai (1922), Heinrich Sutermeister (1940) and Boris Blacher (1950). Gounod’s version, the most popular of all, survived a disastrous dress rehearsal to enrapture the opening-night audience at the Théâtre Lyrique on April 27, 1867. It played for 100 consecutive performances. Roméo et Juliette reached the U.S. on November 15, 1867, at New York’s Academy of Music.
© Copyright Metropolitan Opera Guild, Inc., 2011. Reprinted with permission.
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