Georg Benda's Singspiel - 1776
13th September 2007  St. John's Smith Square

Bampton Classical Opera, whose strong reputation is based on many significant rarities from the late eighteenth-century, collaborates with the London Mozart Players, conducted by King’s Consort director Matthew Halls.  Portuguese-born Joana Seara is joined by Mark Chaundy as the star-crossed lovers in an expressive staging directed by Jeremy Gray, first seen at this year’s Buxton Festival. 

Juliet’s three relationships - with her kindly confidante Laura, with Capulet her intransigent father, and with Romeo whose rash murder of Tybalt has led to his banishment lie at the emotional core of this beautiful and intense enlightenment opera.  Bravely Juliet heeds the advice of her confessor Lorenzo and swallows the sleeping draught.  In the mausoleum of her ancestors, Romeo encounters the pallid corpse of his beloved.

Amongst the many champions of Benda’s expressive and powerful lyricism was Mozart, who confessed with warm admiration that he kept the Bohemian-born composer’s scores close by him.  Best known for his passionate melodramas Ariadne auf Naxos and Medea, Benda’s innovatory approach to word-setting, underscored and punctuated by dramatic orchestral colour and rhythm, made a strong impact on Mozart, Beethoven and Weber. With its expressive variety of music and at times radical treatment of the text, Romeo and Juliet provides a fascinating insight into eighteenth-century attitudes to Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet is briefly discussed in Jean-François Lattarico’s essay ‘German Baroque Opera’ in the current edition of Goldberg magazine. 

Bampton Classical Opera’s acclaimed previous productions include the UK première of Salieri’s Falstaff, and rarities by Arne, Cimarosa, Gazzaniga, Haydn, Martìn y Soler, Mozart, Paisiello and Storace.  For further details, see www.bamptonopera.org.

Book online for Romeo and Juliet at www.sjss.org.uk or telephone the St John’s Box Office  +44 (0)20 7222 1061.