I Capuleti E I Montecchi - Performance History

Performance History

Early librettos divide the opera into four parts; at Bologna in 1832 Maria Malibran replaced the last part with the tomb scene from Vaccai’s final act, a tradition followed by contralto Romeos such as Alboni (Vaccai’s scene is included as an appendix to Ricordi’s vocal score). This version was performed in 1833 in Paris and London (on 20 July) with Pasta as Romeo, but in Florence the following year Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis restored Bellini’s ending. Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient’s singing as Romeo in Leipzig (1834) and Magdeburg (1835) created a profound impression on the young Wagner.

I Capuleti was revived in 1935, the centenary of Bellini’s death, at Catania and it was given its first US performance on 4 April 1937 in New Orleans. It appeared in 1954 at Palermo, with Giulietta Simionato as Romeo and Rosanna Carteri as Giulietta. In 1966 Claudio Abbado prepared a version for La Scala in which Romeo was sung by a tenor, Giacomo Aragall; the cast included Renata Scotto and Margherita Rinaldi alternating in the role of Giulietta and Luciano Pavarotti as Tebaldo. This version was also performed in Amsterdam, Rome and Philadelphia and at the 1967 Edinburgh Festival, but it is no longer used.

Modern day productions have been mounted fairly frequently, with 19 (some concert only) having been presented or planned to be presented since 1 January 2010. A San Francisco Opera production opened on 29 September 2012 featuring Nicole Cabell and Joyce DiDonato as the lovers.