Charles Gounod "Romeo et Giuliette" Opera in 2 acts

The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre presents Charles Gounod’s Romeo et Giuliette for the first time. The premiere continues the theatre’s rich tradition of Shakespearean productions while opening a new chapter with a French lyric opera in which the focus is placed above all on the inner world of its protagonists.

Composed in 1867, Gounod’s opera became one of the most celebrated musical interpretations of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Composer and librettists Jules Barbier and Michel Carré bring to the foreground a love that blossoms with extraordinary speed and struggles against an inherited feud. The musical heart of the score lies in four extended duets between Romeo and Juliet, tracing their relationship from tentative first recognition to their final farewell. Luminous cantilena, transparent orchestral colours and an almost dance-like fluidity gradually give way to anxiety and tragic tension.

rDirector Alexey Smirnov maintains the historical distance of the original story while placing the protagonists within a contemporary Verona, a city where the literary myth has long become part of everyday life. The production explores how a great love story passes through the centuries, becoming part of cultural memory and a familiar cultural reference. In the set design, abstract outlines of the old city are combined with enlarged images of modern-day tourist Verona, while the costumes freely reinterpret Renaissance silhouettes. Against this clash of eras, the essential truth of the story emerges: the fragile yet passionate love of two young people for whom love becomes the only reality that truly matters.