5 Things to Know about Roméo et Juliette

Our 2025/2026 season opens with a bold and beautiful new production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, taking audiences on a journey from the soaring emotional highs of young love to heartrending despair, as a forbidden romance turns to tragedy.

Read on to learn more about this beloved classic before joining us to experience a production that will enchant season opera-goers and newcomers alike! 

Subscriptions are now on sale, and our Public Ticket Onsale begins on Monday, July 21.

A timeless tale

A tale that began as a 16th-century Italian novella by Matteo Bandello, was later adapted into English verse and prose translations, and ultimately inspired Shakespeare’s 1595 play features a universally familiar narrative: two lovers from warring families, both victims of fate, are ultimately united in death. Reworked again in the 1860s by librettists Jules Barbier and Michel Carré (the same creative duo behind Gounod’s Faust and Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann), the source material for Roméo et Juliette was elevated to new heights by Charles Gounod’s rapturous score—and an operatic classic was born.

Just what the doctor ordered

Gounod’s opera Faust, composed a decade earlier, had been a massive hit with 300 performances mounted at the Théâtre Lyrique. But his next works, including a grand opera about the Queen of Sheba, were critical and commercial failures. Happily, the immediate success of Roméo et Juliette at its premiere during the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris rescued Gounod from a deep depression and was even successful enough to inspire a parody entitled Rhum et eau en juillet (Rum and Water in July)!

Romantic duets for days

Musical highlights from the opera include the lively waltz "Je veux vivre" sung by Juliette, as well as four duets performed by the lovers: at the ball where they meet, in the famous balcony scene, in the Act IV “lark and the nightingale” duet, and in their heartbreaking final moments. The first three duets feature their voices in close harmony, while in the death scene, the singers join a defiant unison line as they face their tragic end as one.

From Verona to Venice Beach

The exquisite poetry and iconic storyline of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet have inspired numerous musical adaptations, from Prokofiev’s 1935 ballet and Leonard Bernstein’s 1957 musical West Side Story. Cinematic interpretations have also ranged from those maintaining strict loyalty to the source material—such as Zefferelli’s iconic 1968 film starring Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting—to subversive modern takes including Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 contemporary rendering, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles.

A Gilded Age spin on an adored classic

In a similar vein, this season’s new production from Malmö Opera, directed by Amy Lane, applies a distinctly cinematic lens to breathe fresh life into Gounod’s beloved tragedy. Relocating the action to New York City during the late 19th-century Gilded Age, with set and costume design by Emma Ryott evoking a carnival atmosphere, this Roméo et Juliette marks a festive and fearlessly passionate opening to our 2025/2026 season.