Metropolitan Opera Archives

Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette" was given at the Metropolitan Opera House yesterday afternoon.. This first matinee of the season served to bring before a large audience some of the most popular members of the company. Miss Bori as Juliette, Mr. Gigli as Romeo and Mr. de Luca as Mercutio effected their reentries with brilliant success. Capable aid was furnished by Mr. Rothier as Friar Laurence and Mr. Didur as Capulet. The performance was in all essential respects a replica of those of last season.

However, in certain important details it showed improvement. Miss Bori's voice was in better condition than when she last appeared as the daughter of the house of Capulet. It had less acidity. It was softer and mellower and better suited to the utterances of the swiftly won bride of Romeo. Some of her singing was most admirable and at every moment she was a vision of youthful beauty.

Mr. Gigli showed marked improvement in his singing of Romeo. He lacks the romantic carriage, the poetic aspect of the traditional young Montague, but vocally he has developed his treatment of the role to a high level of beauty. It was good when he first gave it to us; it is much better now. It has warmth, tenderness and a captivating variety of color and accent. He and Miss Bori rose to fine heights of lyric art in the duet of the garden scene, a number written with Gounod's finest skill in the use of voices and for that very reason demanding technique on the part of the singers equal to that of the composer.

Mr. de Luca is a very good Mercutio. It is a difficult role which looks easy. Mr. Rothier's command of style was shown as usual in his Friar Laurence. The whole performance was smooth and musically pleasing to the large audience. Mr. Hasselmans conducted.

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Search by title: Roméo et Juliette,

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