# Which Romeo and Juliet Opera?



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Just curious which Romeo and Juliet opera is most preferred here at TC. I left out "other" because the few I could find were relatively obscure. These seem to be the two most popular ones.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Can we have option: both, equal?


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Rogerx said:


> Can we have option: both, equal?


Sorry, I was trying to drive a hard line. Well, just think as if you could only take one to the desert island.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Gounod, without a moment's hesitation. The other's a Rossini pastiche that bears little resemblance to Shakespeare.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

NickFuller said:


> Gounod, without a moment's hesitation. The other's a Rossini pastiche that bears little resemblance to Shakespeare.


I can't speak to the Rossininess of it, but it is not supposed to resemble Shakespeare because (according to Wikipedia) Donizetti's "libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo and based on the play of the same name by Luigi Scevola written in 1818, thus an Italian source rather than taken directly from William Shakespeare."


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Just in case anybody could be interested in Vaccaj's opera, that is nice and I liked it more than Gounod's, is complete in youtube:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

schigolch said:


> Just in case anybody could be interested in Vaccaj's opera, that is nice and I liked it more than Gounod's, is complete in youtube:


There is a super nice mezzo voice in it too.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Fritz Kobus said:


> I can't speak to the Rossininess of it, but it is not supposed to resemble Shakespeare because (according to Wikipedia) Donizetti's "libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo and based on the play of the same name by Luigi Scevola written in 1818, thus an Italian source rather than taken directly from William Shakespeare."


And Luigi Scevola's play wasn't based on Shakespeare's, either. But both plays can trace their lineage back to Luigi da Porto's _Giulietta e Romeo_ from 1524. He named the characters and families, set the play in Verona, and so on. The fact that Shakespeare wrote a popular version of the story doesn't mean that every version thereafter has to be based on his, or that using a different line reveals a deficiency.

Bellini took melodies from his own _Zaira_, not anything by Rossini. And give me _I Capuleti e i Montecchi_ over most anything by Rossini any day.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I can live without both. We have a great R & J ballet by Prokofiev, which I find more powerful than the Shakespeare play, but not a worthy opera.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

There's also Berlioz's Dramatic Symphony, which I prefer to both.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Fritz Kobus said:


> I can't speak to the *Rossininess* of it, but it is not supposed to resemble Shakespeare because (according to Wikipedia) *Donizetti's* "libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo and based on the play of the same name by Luigi Scevola written in 1818, thus an Italian source rather than taken directly from William Shakespeare."


I can't speak to the Donizettiness any more than the Rossininess. Now the *Bellininess*--that's another matter!


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

West Side Story


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> I can live without both. We have a great *R & J ballet by Prokofiev*, which I find more powerful than the Shakespeare play, but not a worthy opera.


That I ought to look into.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Definitely do! My favorite work by prokofiev


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Sonata said:


> Definitely do! My favorite work by prokofiev


Well, I will have to get two Prokofiev ballets: R&J and Cinderella.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

After sleeping over it: Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi .


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Fritz Kobus said:


> Well, I will have to get two Prokofiev ballets: R&J and Cinderella.


Both are wonderful. There are quite a few excellent recordings. These two are my favourites.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

I'd say Bellini because soprano kissing hot mezzo >>> soprano kissing tenor.


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