Capuleti e i Montecchi - Programmbuch der Bayerischen Staatsoper
Client: Bayerische Staatsoper
Format: Program Book
Vincenzo Bellini
Felice Romani
Tragedia li✈ica in two acts
The title is deceptive, because the names are the only things Bellini’s tragedia lirica from the year 1830 has in common with Shakespeare’s drama. There may still be the feuding families, the Montagues and the Capulets, with their star-crossed offspring, but what Bellini and his librettist Felice Romani produced is a typically romantic tale of heroism, along the lines of Lord Byron’s epics, with a hero taking arms against restrictive social structures and remaining true to his emotional ideals as an outsider and a rebel.
Romeo is just such a rebel – not a tenor, but rather a mezzo-soprano, with no interest whatsoever in preordained family ties, an individualist following his feelings and eager to go his own way. The famous melodie lunghe, lunghe, lunghe lead directly to the tragic death with his beloved Giulietta. As horrifying and inexplicably revolutionary as it may have seemed to Bellini’s contemporaries, long practice has shown that replacing the final scene of the opera with Nicola Vanuzzi’s happy ending – is virtually unthinkable today.
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Exciting new productions, internationally acclaimed stars and an impressive repertoire: these are the solid pillars supporting the Bavarian State Opera – one of the world’s leading opera houses, which can proudly look back on a history of over 350 years. With more than 300 performances each year, it makes a major contribution to Munich’s reputation as a cultural metropolis. During one season, over 30 operas from five centuries are performed, making the programme one of the most richly varied performance schedules of all international opera houses. ✐