Published: 01 October 2010
Category: Vocal & Opera

Russian soprano Lyubov Petrova makes her debut at De Nederlandse Opera as Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette on 7 October alongside another Intermusica singer, baritone Henk Neven who sings Mercutio. Olivier Py directs the production, which is conducted by the renowned French conductor Marc Minkowski.

Gounod’s much-loved opera, with Juliet’s famous party scene waltz Je veux vivre, tells the immortal story of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers. A great admirer of the bard, Gounod tried several times to portray this celebrated love story in music, before settling with his final version which is remarkably faithful to the original tale – with some operatic embellishment of course, including Juliette’s marriage to Paris and a farewell, emotional, love duet between the dying Roméo and the awakening Juliette in the family tomb! He does of course retain the legendary balcony scene, the musical motif of which recurs many times during the opera as a unifying element.

Lyubov Petrova’s 2010-11 season is an exciting one. She will sing Juliette again for Dallas Opera, Giulietta I Capuleti e i Montecchi at Teatro Massimo Catania, and the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor with Washington Opera, amongst other engagements. Henk Neven is a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and future engagements include Donald Billy Budd in the Netherlands, a recording for Onyx Records, concerts and broadcasts with the BBC Orchestras as part of the NGA scheme, as well as recitals at the Wigmore Hall London and the Sage Gateshead.

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