Saturday 05 November 2016

Edvard Grieg Choir participates in Bergen National Opera's staging of Bellini's masterpiece, spun around the myth of Romeo and Juliet.

LOVE OPERA

This is the love story of Romeo, leader of the Montecchi, and Juliet, the daughter of the leader of the Capulets, and of the conflict between the two rival factions.
Juliet feigns death in the hope of escaping with her lover from this world of intrigue, conflict and rivalry, but Romeo himself is deceived and kills himself. When she wakes up, she decides to join him in death.

Bellini designed his "Romeo and Juliet" opera without using Shakespeare's plays, but went directly to the original Italian sources. The opera's gallery of characters does not present "two families of equal standing", but warring political factions. The families' personal dilemmas are, however, unchanged because the dramatic center of the work is also here about the two young people's love, which is made impossible by the conflict between the parties.

BEL CANTO AT ITS BEST

The music in this work is stunningly beautiful – large well-formed vocal arches that demonstrate "bel canto" at its best. Here you will find poignant arias and ensembles with full choirs and refined, lyrical orchestration.

NORWEGIAN PREMIERE – IN BERGEN

With striking and contrasting moves, director Nicola Raab and designer Ashley Martin-David stage the most famous tragedy of all time, where the love story is at the center.