Gounod's Roméo et Juliette is one of the most successful adaptations of the Shakespearean tragedy. The opera in five acts is sung to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. The music and lyrics of the four iconic love duets for soprano and tenor capture the tender intimacy and intense emotions of the couple. The powerful music for the chorus and orchestra also vividly depicts the active strife between the rival families, which is ultimately responsible for the tragic ending. 

The librettists had also been the librettists for Faust, Gounod's earlier operatic triumph. They treated the Shakespearean play with great respect, substantially keeping the original plot and dialogue; at the same time, they removed some of the characters and created a new character, Stephano, who is Romeo's page. A marriage scene, which is not present in the play, was also added. The final reconciliation scene was removed to allow for a new final scene in which Romeo dies after Juliet awakens, providing the setting for the lovers' last duet. All the changes were made for the needs of Gounod's music.

Today, it is still a staple of the French operatic repertoire.

Artistic Director: Warren Mok

Conductor: Roberto Gianola

Director: Arnaud Bernard

Set, Costume and Lighting Designer: Arnaud Bernard

Music: Charles-François Gounod

Libretto: Jules Barbier and Michel Carré

Programme

An Opera in Five Acts

After the play by Shakespeare

Warren Mok, BBS, MH

Artistic Director

A world-renowned Chinese tenor from Hong Kong, Warren Mok has made frequent guest appearances in many leading opera houses throughout the world. His operatic repertoire exceeds sixty roles. He is currently the artistic director of Opera Hong Kong, Fujian Grand Theatre and Zhuhai Huafa Grand Theatre; he was formerly the artistic director of the Macao International Music Festival. In 2012, China's Three Tenors — Warren Mok, Dai Yuqiang, and Wei Song – toured the world to promote Chinese culture. Mok is currently a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and conferred an Honorary Doctorate by The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Honorary University Fellowship by Hong Kong Baptist University.

Roberto Gianola

Conductor

Currently music director of the Istanbul Opera and Ballet Theatre where he achieved enormous success in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann in 2015, Roberto Gianola has conducted most orchestras across the continents, appearing on the prestigious stages of Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall of New York, Musikverein Golden Hall of Vienna, Teatro Regio di Parma, Arena di Verona, and Seoul Arts Center. He was also onstage with Plácido Domingo in Nabucco at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing. Recent highlights included La Bohème at Kitakyushu Opera in Japan, I Capuleti e i Montecchi at Ljubljana Opera, Don Pasquale at Teatro Verdi Trieste and Elisir d'amore at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. He is also the artistic director of Lake Como Philharmonic Orchestra and Lake Como Music Academy. 

Arnaud Bernard

Director and Set, Costume, and Lighting Designer

Having studied at the Conservatoire National de Strasbourg, Arnaud Bernard became an assistant to renowned directors Nicolas Joël and Jean-Claude Auvray in 1988. He had staged over 35 revivals of Joël's productions, notably for Roméo et Juliette at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera. Since 1999, many of his new productions have received critical acclaim, including: Manon at Lausanne Opera; Roméo et Juliette at the Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre; La Bohème and Nabucco at the Arena de Verona; La fanciulla del West at the Mariinsky Theatre; Lakmé in Palermo and revival in Tokyo and Philadelphia; L'elisir d'Amore in Toulouse with Marcelo Alvarez; Carmen in Helsinki and revival in Lausanne, Tokyo and Bilbao; and two new designs of Falstaff at Teatro San Carlo in Napoli and Opera de Budapest. 

The content of this programme does not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.