ROMEO E GIULIETTA.
Grand Opera in five acts by CH. GOUNOD.
Text by BARBIER and CARRÉ.
This highly favored opera by Gounod presents much that is worthy of admiration, though it does not rise to the high level of his Marguerite (Faust). {304 The libretto follows Shakespeare's version pretty accurately.
The first act opens with the masked ball in Capuletti's palace, where the first meeting between the lovers takes place, Romeo being disguised as a pilgrim. They fall in love with each other, and Tybalt, Capulet's nephew, recognizing Romeo, reveals, but too late, their true names and swears to take revenge on his foe, who has thus entered the Capulet's house uninvited.
The second act represents the famous scene on the balcony between Juliet and her lover.
In the third act Romeo visits Friar Lorenzo's cell, to get advice from him. There he meets Juliet. Lorenzo unites the lovers, hoping hereby to reconciliate the hostile houses of the Montagus and the Capulets.
The following scene represents the street before Capulet's palace, where the rivals meet; there ensues the double duel, first between Tybalt and Romeo's friend Mercutio, who falls and then between Romeo, who burns to avenge his comrade, and Tybalt. Tybalt is killed and Romeo is obliged to fly, all the Capulets being after him.
In the fourth act Romeo sees Juliet in her room, but when the morning dawns he is obliged to leave, while Juliet's father comes to remind her of his last promise to the dying Tybalt, which was to marry Juliet to Count Paris.—
Juliet in great perplexity turns to Friar Lorenzo for help.—He gives her a draught which will cause her to fall into a deep swoon, and after being laid in her ancestor's tomb, she is to be awakened by Romeo and carried away into security.
In the fifth act Romeo, after having taken poison enters the tomb to bid farewell to Juliet, whom he by a fatal misunderstanding believes to be dead.—She awakes, and seeing her bridegroom die before her eyes, she stabs herself, to be united with her lover in death, if not in life.