Opera News & Press

Opera singers' experience shapes their performances as 'Romeo et Juliet'

Read a review of Romeo et Juliet in the Times Picayune.

Opera singers' experience shapes their performances as 'Romeo et Juliet'

November 17, 2009

Chris Waddington

Boy meets girl. Both families object. Tragedy ensues.

That sturdy story line has never lost its appeal for artists, prompting works of genius from talents as diverse as William Shakespeare, Leonard Bernstein, Sergei Prokofiev, Vincenzo Bellini and Hector Berlioz.

This weekend, New Orleanians can see what French composer Charles Gounod made of that narrative as the New Orleans Opera Association stages his "Romeo et Juliette" at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts.

"You don't need to be an expert to understand 'Romeo et Juliette.' The title tells you everything," said Bernard Uzan, the French director who is staging the current production. "The engine of Gounod's opera is an amazing passion between young lovers. If that feeling doesn't come through, there is no story."

Gounod is best known for his 1859 opera, "Faust," but his tale of star-crossed lovers in Renaissance Italy never has left the repertoire since its 1867 premiere at the Theatre-Lyrique in Paris. "Romeo et Juliette" blends tragedy with high romance and a dash of humor. It also shows that this master melodist was equally adept at dramatic pacing and the delicate art of limning character through music. Add a big dose of vocal fireworks, and it's clear why "Romeo et Juliette" helped to seal Gounod's reputation as a box office winner. It drew crowds everywhere, including the opera-crazed New Orleans of 1869.

Today's New Orleanians have plenty of reasons to get crazy about this production, which matches some of today's top singers with a well-drilled local team: conductor Robert Lyall, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and the New Orleans Opera Chorus under Carol Rausch.

As for the singers, the dream team at the top of the bill suggests the strengths of the cast as a whole.

Nicole Cabell will make her New Orleans debut as Juliette. The California soprano catapulted to the front ranks of the opera world in 2005 when she won the BBC Singer of the World Competition.

"I'd been studying at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and thinking about doing some auditions in New York and, suddenly, after the competition, my phone started ringing and my calendar filled up for years ahead," Cabell said. Now 32, she has recorded for prestige labels such as Decca and Deutsche Grammophon. She is scheduled to sing leading roles with New York's Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and London's Royal Opera House at Covent Garden.

Cabell wasn't going to miss a chance to sing Juliette in New Orleans, however.

"I love this role, and I love this New Orleans. It's a place I took into my heart before and after Hurricane Katrina," Cabell said. "I also wanted to hear Paul Groves as Romeo. I'm a great admirer of his singing."

Groves, 44, brings an instrument honed at the world's great houses, including many performances at the Metropolitan Opera. The Lake Charles native left Louisiana after winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1991, but now makes his home in the French Quarter. He impressed local aficionados in 2007, when he sang the title role in the New Orleans Opera's production of Gounod's "Faust."

"I'm the veteran in this production -- a decade older than most of the performers," Groves said. "But, for me, it's always a pleasure to work with strong young singers. They remind me that there can be no holding back in these big romantic roles. It's always about giving 100 percent at all times."

During rehearsals, Uzan has come to admire the acting skills of both singers -- and the veteran director has seen plenty of good ones at work, having staged close to 400 operas in his career.

"Both of these singers draw on adult experience to enrich their portrayal of teenage lovers," the director said. "Groves projects the ardor of youth, but also a manly virility and mental strength that's essential to Romeo. Nicole's Juliette evolves in the course of the drama, from an innocent girl to a mature woman. Each of them knows how to create characters in the round. Each knows that there isn't one truth, but many -- and that wisdom comes through in their singing, too."