Zingarelli’s Giulietta e Romeo is a three-act Italian opera that premiered at La Scala in 1796. It’s not based on the Shakespeare play but on earlier material and is much less convoluted than the well-known play.
Broadly, Giulietta is betrothed to Teobaldo (Tybalt) but falls in love with Romeo at first sight. Her father, Everardo, suspects this and, since we have the whole Capuletti/Montecchi feud going, is not pleased. Matters get worse when Romeo kills Teobaldo in a duel. Everardo plans to lock Giulietta up somewhere but Gilberto, who seems to have a foot in both camps, decides to intervene in hope of ending the feud with the help of Giulietta’s confidante Matilde. This is the usual not-a-poison thing which works out essentially as it does in Shakespeare – badly.
Musically it feels quite old fashioned for 1796. It’s mostly an opera seria with recitatives and set piece “emotion” arias, though with possibly more duets and a bigger role for the chorus than is typical in earlier works in the genre. It also features two castrato roles (Romeo and Gilberto) and some pretty florid vocal writing.
It was recorded at Opéra Royal de Versailles in 2023 in a production directed by Gilles Rico. In many ways, it’s a typical Château de Versailles Spectacles production. The direction is quite literal and straightforward, except perhaps for a repeated appearance by Teobaldo’s ghost. Sets are conventional and costumes (Christian Lacroix) are cut in the style of the work’s premiere but use fabrics and dyes which are decidedly modern. It’s a bit static, with a lot of “park and bark” and sword waving during the arias.
The final scene, in which Giulietta and Romeo are observed by the ghost of Teobaldo (Valentino Buzza)
Musically, I find it a bit problematic. Both castrato roles are given to countertenors, and while Nicolò Balducci is rather good as Gilberto, I found Franco Fagioli’s Romeo unconvincing. There’s just nothing about his singing and acting that suggests teenage boy, and there’s something weirdly mannered about his vocal delivery, though some of that may be down to the excessively florid music he’s stuck with. I really think a mezzo-soprano in this role would make more sense or, failing that, a youthful sounding countertenor like Philippe Jaroussky.
The ladies are good though. Adèle Charvet is a convincing Giulietta who acts well and sings most stylishly with a pleasing medium-weight soprano. Canadian Florie Valiquette doesn’t have a whole lot to do as Matilde – basically two shortish arias – but she sings them beautifully and plays her part convincingly.
Polish tenor Krystian Adam sings Everardo in an appropriately bluff way, but his acting is a bit over-stylized for my taste. Valentino Buzza, as Teobaldo, doesn’t have much to do except wander about gorily, but what little singing he does, he does well. The house chorus and orchestra (period instruments) are fine and Stefan Plewniak’s conducting is unobtrusive.
Olivier Simmonet’s video direction is straightforward, backed up by excellent video quality on Blu-ray (like other CVS videos, this is a dual format Blu-ray/DVD release). Audio is stereo only, but the quality is fine. There’s a hefty booklet with a directorial statement plus full libretto with English and German translation. The English translation, also used for the subtitles, is weirdly archaic.
This is a pretty standard CVS release, but neither the opera itself or the performances (especially Fagioli) particularly endeared it to me.
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Formerly a management consultant and ehealth guru, John’s interests in the classical arts range from recitals to straight theatre via opera and other classical vocal genres. He is particularly interested in the intersection of Indigenous issues and the arts.
