Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi, first performed in 1830, tells the timeless love story between Romeo and Juliet. By writing for a soprano (Juliet) and mezzo soprano (Romeo), Bellini is able to create exhilarating musical moments when the two voices are in tantalisingly close proximity and by contrast moments when there is a marked gulf between them. At the end, Bellini brings them together for an instant before separating them forever in one of the most affecting death scenes in Italian opera.

In this production, inspired by the film The Godather, the action is updated to the 1940s. In this world, loyalty, honour and vengeance are key. If violated, Mafiosi men are compelled to respond violently. Before the opera begins, Romeo has killed the son of the head of the Capuleti family in battle. There can be no forgiveness. The tragic plight of the two young lovers seems all the more impossible.

Directed by Dominic Cooke
Revival Director: Ptolemy Christie

Designer: Robert Innes Hopkins
Revival Designer: Louie Whitemore

Sung in Italian with English surtitiles