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Opernhaus Zürich

Soprano (+3)

Julie Fuchs

Juliet

Tenor

Stephen Costello

Romeo

Bass (+5)

Nicolas Testé

Friar Laurent

Baritone (+1)

Gregory Feldmann

Mercutio

Mezzo-soprano (+2)

Svetlina Stoyanova

Stephano

Tenor (+3)

Omer Kobiljak

Tybalt

Mezzo-soprano (+5)

Irène Friedli

Gertrude

Maximilian Lawrie

Benvolio

Orchestra

The Orchester der Oper Zürich

Conductor

Conductor (+1)

Timur Zangiev

Stage director

Stage director (+4)

Ted Huffman

Set designer

Set designer (+1)

Andrew Lieberman

Costume designer

Annemarie Woods

Lighting designer

Lighting designer (+3)

Franck Evin

Chorusmaster

Chorusmaster (+3)

Ernst Raffelsberger

Choreographer

Choreographer (+1)

Pim Veulings

Dramaturge

Fabio Dietsche

Bass (+4)

Chao Deng

Count Capulet

Bass (+3)

Valeriy Murga

The Duke

Bass-baritone (+4)

Samson Setu

Gregory

Opernhaus

Baritone (+2)

Steffan Lloyd Owen

Paris

Chorus

Zurich Opera Chorus

Dancer

Alison Duarte

Dancers

Maarten Krielen

Davide Pillera

Roberto Tallarigo

Sina Friedli

Dancer (+1)

Sara Peña

Elena Paltracca

Oriana Zeoli

Extras

Opernhaus Zürich Extras

Romeo und Juliette are social outsiders in a world full of strict conventions. In Charles Gounod’s French setting of this famous love story, the young pair meets at a lavish ball. Juliette, who is sheltered by her father, opens with lively waltz «Je veux vivre», while Roméo and his friends have snuck into their rivals’ party. It’s love at first sight, and the beginning of their fateful affair. The intense passion that develops between the two is at the center of Gounod’s Romantic opera: Four grand duets mark the path from love’s first bloom to the tragic deaths that the two experience as redemption.
American stage director Ted Huffman sets Gounod’s opera, which first appeared on stage at the 1867 Paris Exhibition world’s fair, on a simple dance floor. The waltz – which was modern in Gounod’s on time – becomes, in Huffman’s interpretation, a symbol for a society with outdated values from which Roméo and Juliette must free themselves. As in his «exceptionally harmonious» Madama Butterfly, here Huffman proves to be a «fine draftsman of gestures, moods and glances» pulling focus «even more towards the emotional tensions between the lovers», according to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
As in the premiere run, Julie Fuchs is Juliette. Tenor Stephen Costello, who last appeared here as Roberto Devereux, bows as Roméo.

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