Review: Gounod: Romeo et Juliette ****
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has been brought into the world of feuding Mafia in the 1960s for this new Opera North production from the director, John Fulljames.
Gounod's score is a mishmash of styles, largely shaped by external pressures of theatre directors and singers, passages of high drama and sensuous beauty next to moments coming close to French operetta.
Gounod reworked it several times and Fulljames and conductor Martin Andre have devised a new version with sung passages linked by spoken dialogue. They have a delightful young Slovenian soprano, Bernarda Bobro, in the role of Juliette, her tight quick vibrato and silvery tone coming close to the French style required. Technically she is very secure, the Je veux vivre sung with sparkle, while her youthful acting is ideal. Leonardo Capalbo's light lyric tenor voice is perfect for the tender music upon which the character of Romeo is shaped – his good looks adding to the sensual scenes.
Opera North, Leeds Grand Theatre
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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