Roméo et Juliette, Quarantined
Need to Know
Gounod
Charles Gounod wrote 12 operas, his most popular being Faust and Roméo et Juliette. In addition to opera, he wrote a large of amount of church music, including his “Ave Maria”, which is a slight variation of a Bach piece. He was deeply religious and for a time debated becoming a priest, before ultimately dedicating his life to music.
Gounod was born into an artistic family, his first music lessons came from his mother who was a pianist. He eventually went on to study at the Conservatory of Paris and there he won the the Prix de Rome, which allowed him to travel to Italy, Austria and Prussia to continue his studies. It was during this period that he met Felix Mendelssohn, whose influenced him to study the music of Bach.
Gounod replaced the pomp and excesses of French Grand Opera to a style that is more poetic and intimate. This shift would influence the next generation of French composers including Fauré, Debussy, and Massenet. Gounod once said, “Melody alone counts in music… Melody, always melody, that is the sole, the unique secret of our art.”
Here is an article from San Francisco Classical Voice that is great place to learn more of Gounod’s life.
Shakespeare in Opera
It’s really not hard to believe that one of the world’s greatest playwrights is often the influencer of so many operas. Verdi for instance set the Bard’s plays to operas 3 times, Macbeth, Othello, and Falstaff (Based on the play The Merry Wives of Windsor). Shakespeare’s most famous tragic love story Romeo and Juliet has been set multiple times including by Bellini, Berlioz, Gounod, Tchaikovski, and Bernstein.
Here are the top ten Shakespeare operas according to the San Francisco Times. Here is also a great article by David Ward that weaves opera history and Shakespeare’s influence together.
Love Duets
Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette is, in effect a series of four love duets. These four duets create the over arching structure of the opera.
“Ange adorable” (Adorable Angel), ”O nuit divine”, “Nuit d’hyménée!”, and Act V’s “Final Death Duet”
No Poison here, just a delicious drink!
Juliet drinks a pseudo-poison, Romeo drinks actual poison… they should have put both down and had this Juliet and Romeo Cocktail instead. This gin based cocktail is light and bright and perfect way to honor the star-crossed lovers. Watch John build the cocktail here.
Ingredients: 2 oz Gin, 3/4 oz Lime Juice, 1/4 oz Simple Syrup, 4 drops of rose water, 3 drops of Angostura bitters, 3 slices cucumber, 2 mint sprigs, pinch of salt. Directions: Add Cucumber, a pinch of salt, gin, simple syrup, 3 drops of rose water and mint and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a mint leaf, add 1 drop of rose water to the leaf and 3 drops of bitters around. Enjoy!
Synopsis
Cliff notes:
“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” This final line from Shakespeare’s famous play sums it up better than anything. A long standing feud between two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, culminates in a tragic end for each of the families’ heirs, Romeo and Juliet. The two star crossed lovers are forced to grow up quickly as they navigate revenge, love, and a secret marriage… ultimately fate causes them to commit suicide.
Full Synopsis (of the opera)
Plotwise, Gounod doesn’t sway far from Shakespeare’s brilliant play, but here is a break down of the Five Act Opera from the Met.
Stream the Opera
Listen to the whole opera starring Corelli and Freni here.
Rent this 2017 production from the Met starring Vittorio Grigolo and Diana Damrau.
Additional Listening
Juliette’s arias
Je veux vivre (Juliet’s Walz) sung by Natalie Dessay
Dieu! quel frisson court dans mes veines! (Poison aria) sung by Anna Netrebko
Amour ranime mon courage sung by Ailyn Pérez
Roméo’s arias
Ah! lève toi soleil! sung by Roberto Alagna
Other CHaracter’s Arias
Stéphano’s aria: Que fais tu blanche tourterelle sung by Isabel Leonard
Mercutio’s aria: Mab la reine des mensonges sung by Russel Braun
Frère Laurent’s aria: Buvez donc ce breuvage sung by Branch Fields