Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Allex Aguilera (stage director), Maurizio Benini (conductor) — With Rosa Feola (Giulietta), Raffaella Lupinacci (Romeo), Roberto Lorenzi (Capellio) …
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Cast
Allex Aguilera — Stage director, set designer
Françoise Raybaud — Costumes
Luis Perdiguero — Lighting
Arnaud Pottier — Video
Rosa Feola — Giulietta
Raffaella Lupinacci — Romeo
Roberto Lorenzi — Capellio
Maxim Mironov — Tebaldo
Adolfo Corrado — Lorenzo
Chorus of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège
Orchestra of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège
Maurizio Benini — Conductor
Program notes
In this new production from the prestigious Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, meet the star-crossed lovers like you haven't seen them before! After the failure of his opera Zaira in 1829, bel canto master Vincenzo Bellini found himself in need of a critical and popular success to restore his good name. With just six weeks before the Carnival season at Venice's famed La Fenice in 1830, he set about creating a new opera (with repurposed music from Zaira) based on Romeo and Juliet — not the Shakespeare play, but the Italian novella from 1554 that had inspired the Bard, with more than a few differences in plot — and found international renown once again with I Capuleti e i Montecchi!
In fair 13th-century Verona we find Giulietta, betrothed to Tebaldo, who falls in love with Romeo — but they come from warring political factions, the Guelps and Ghibellines, and their love threatens to make hostilities boil over… With an "infinitely moving" Rosa Feola as Giulietta and "magnificent" Raffaella Lupinacci as Romeo (Bachtrack), the stripped-down but striking staging by Allex Aguilera provides a perfect backdrop for Bellini's gorgeous melodies, performed by the impeccable house ensembles and conducted by bel canto expert Maurizio Benini.
Photo © Jonathan Berger / Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège
