The World's Most Famous Operas
Romeo and Juliet
Music: Charles Gounod (1818–1893)
Rendered into Arabic by: Samir Shikhani
An opera in five acts adapted from Shakespeare's play. First produced in Paris in 1867.
The Characters:
• Count Capulet • Juliet, his daughter • Romeo, of the house of Montague • Mercutio, his friend • Friar Laurence • Tybalt, nephew of Count Capulet • Count Paris • Gertrude, Juliet's attendant • Gregorio, of the Capulet household • Stephano, one of Romeo's followers • The Duke of Verona • Benvolio, of the Montague household • Ladies, men, servants.
Time: the fourteenth century. Place: the city of Verona, in Italy.
Act One
The scene: the ballroom of the Capulets.
After a short musical prelude the curtain rises on a darkened stage, upon which the company of the opera appears, singing, alluding to the deep-rooted feud between the two noble families — the family of Montague and the family of Capulet — and to the tragic love between the two young lovers, Romeo and Juliet.
The curtain falls after this short prologue, only to rise again on the events of the first act. In the ballroom of the Capulets' palace a masked ball is being held in celebration of Juliet's birthday. At the
opening of the act everyone learns that Juliet is to be wedded to a young nobleman, Count Paris.
Among the guests was Romeo — of the family of Montague, which bears the family of Capulet a mortal enmity — accompanied by his friend Mercutio and others, all of them masked to conceal their identity. Romeo speaks, saying that he has seen a dream that troubled him; Mercutio replies, assuring him that this dream is, beyond doubt, a message from Queen "Mab" — one of the queens of the fairies — who sows dreams and fancies in the minds of men.
And despite his sense of foreboding, Romeo moves about the house of his enemies calmly, captivated by the charm of Juliet and her fresh youth. She bursts into song, singing of her happiness in this life.
Romeo addresses Juliet, calling her the adored angel; then the two lovers disclose their love in a song they sing together. But the song is soon cut short by the entrance of Tybalt, Juliet's kinsman. Romeo leaves the hall. Tybalt discovers that the young man who has gone out is