Neemrana Music Foundation's forthcoming production is an Indo-Italian presentation of Charles Gounod's Romeo & Juliet. Conductor Jean-Marie Curti told I Kaur that the two families in the story are differentiated through colours
It is the story of eternal, tragic love. That is how Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet passed down generations. The tale has been told and retold in hundred languages and several forms. Some adapted the play to match modern times while some changed the end of the story to make it less tragic. There were many such versions that came and went, but one of them stayed and for good. In 1867, Charles Gounod composed his own operatic version of the text with French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré and till today it is performed all over the world as an iconic piece of art. Thus, for Neemrana Music Foundation’s eighth production, they decided to present an Indo-Italian version of Gounod’s Romeo & Juliet conducted by Jean-Marie Curti. In collaboration with the European Union and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), the show will take place at Kamani Auditorium from March 18 to 22 as homage to the pioneer of Opera in India, Francis Wacziarg, who passed away recently.
Known as the only opera in the world to begin with a choir instead of an orchestra, this five-act opera opens with the choir’s overture prologue that explains the feud between the two families: The Montagues and the Capulets. This moves on to act one — The Capulets’ Ball. “In an opera, the energy is focussed more on certain aspects of the story so that people can hear first and then watch. That adds to the drama. Thus, the introductory chorus explains the basis of the story. This is followed by a masked ball where Romeo and Juliet fall in love. Only once the ball starts, other elements on the stage are revealed,” explains Curti.
The stage set up captures the Italian renaissance period and the costumes have been designed in a descriptive manner, says Curti. “We have recreated the ambience of the city of Verona. However, our priority is to focus more on the appearance of the characters. The story is about two families who hate each other. So, we differentiate them through colours. One family is in blue and the other in red,” he adds.
While Curti sticks to the libretto used in Gounod’s production, he adds an interesting element to the show by casting Indians for the main characters. “The main roles are played by Amar Muchhala (Romeo) and Aude Priya (Juliet). Amar is from london but was born in India and Priya is from Mumbai but has been living in Paris. Though the two of them have been doing opera for a while now, the fact that they are Indian adds to the versatility of the show,” he shares.
The opera is two and a half hours long and is entirely in French. However, there will be English subtitles running next to the stage. Curti feels that changing the lyrics to English would have taken away the charm.
Curti will present the opera only in India because he feels it is too big a cast and crew to take abroad. “We may do it somewhere within the country, but we can’t take it out because the sets are too heavy and the crew is too big,” he adds.
Along with this, the same crew will be doing a performance called Destiny on March 20 where “Indian musicians will play an overture of an opera written by Tchaikovsky and a Beethoven symphony,” he ends.