Performing Arts: Opera

Gounod's Opera

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has been the inspiration for many composers of opera. The most successful operatic version was composed by Gounod, who enlisted the help of Jules Barbier and Michel Carré to write the libretto.

Charles-Francois Gounod (1818-1893), the son of a painter and pianist, studied at the Paris Conservatoire in France. Although not commercially successful at first, he became the most popular French composer of the period when his opera Faust premiered in 1859. Loosely based on Goethe's novel, Gounod's opera concentrated on the romance of Faust and Marguerite rather than the metaphysical and religious aspects of the original novel.

Faust received international acclaim, and a few years later, Gounod was inspired by another great literary work--that of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This time, however, his opera more closely followed the original plot. The result was a condensed 5-act version of Shakespeare's play. The opera premiered at the Theatre Lyrique in Paris in 1867, and within the year, the opera was performed in London and New York.

In Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, the young Roméo and Juliette fall in love and ignore the fact that their families are feuding. Friar Laurence, touched by their love, marries the couple without anyone knowing. But when Mercutio prompts Romeo to slay Juliet's cousin Tybalt, the recent groom is banished from Verona. Attempting to fix this dilemma, Friar Laurence advises Juliet to drink a potion that will make her appear dead. This plan backfires tragically, as Roméo believes Juliette has indeed died and, in grief, drinks a fatal potion.

The ending of Gounod's opera is the one scene that differs significantly from Shakespeare's play. When Juliette awakens, Roméo is still alive. The lovers have one last encounter—and one final duet—before Roméo dies and Juliette follows suit.