Vincenzo Bellini, I Capleti e i Montecchi (1830)

This opera was streaming on the San Francisco Opera's website, but if you missed it, it's gone. Gone! But it's this production, so you can still see it if you are willing to pay the price. The ULTIMATE price!  Also, don't miss Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia with Renee Fleming this coming weekend.  That oughta be fun.

It's Bellini's Romeo and Juliet story, as you may have been able to figure out. This one is a little different: here the Capulets and Montagues are not just rival families, but actual warring factions--Guelphs and Ghibellines, apparently. I've said it before: if there's one thing I've learned, it's that the Guelphs supported the Pope whereas the Ghibellines were all in for the Holy Roman Empire. If you have trouble telling them apart, just remember that "Guelphs" and "Pope" are one syllable each. So there's that. The opera takes place after the lovers have already embarked on their fateful affair--no balcony scene here. There are some other differences, too: there's no Mercutio; there is a Tybalt (Tebaldo), but here he's a romantic rival of Romeo, and he doesn't even die; he just gets lost in the shuffle.

This is doggone great. I don't know if I'm just more opera-appreciative than I was when I saw Bellini's later, more-performed operas, but I feel like I appreciate Bellini's long, flowing rainbows of melody more than ever before. And goddamn, is this sexy: in particular Juliet's aria of yearning in her first scene, CRIKEY. And of course, in addition to being a great singer, Nicole Cabell in the role is drop-dead gorgeous, so nobody can complain. Romeo here is a trouser role, and Joyce DiDonato is very effective/convincing in it. Eric Owens is an appropriately wrathful Capulet.

The production is somewhat weird. It's fine; it didn't detract from my enjoyment. But still: the thing that a lot of people will mention--because it's stands out so much--is that Juliet delivers her first aria standing atop what appears to be a sink. "Aren't you worried that that thing could snap off?" you find yourself wondering. I dunno.

Still, production aside, I think this is definitely better than Gounod's take on the story (not that I don't like that one too). Bellini was some kind of composer.