ONP: Romeo and Juliet

How many composers have been inspired by the two lovers of Verona depicted by Shakespeare? From Vincenzo Bellini and Hector Berlioz to Leonard Bernstein, the list is long. If Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, first performed during the Universal Exhibition of 1867, enjoyed immediate popularity, it is doubtless because this is the version that translates the tumultuous lives of the celebrated lovers with the greatest finesse. Four love duets, a fiery waltz and luminous, lyrical music: the entire score seems to tremble with desire and freshness.