Romeo and Juliet

The Florentine Opera Company begins a three-night production of Vincenzo Bellini’s 1830 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, I Capuleti e I Montecchi, tonight with a 7:30 p.m. production at the Marcus Center. Bellini’s version emphasizes the story’s poignancy and is focused squarely upon the central characters. He chose to cast Romeo for a female (mezzo-soprano) to further enhance the youth and vulnerability of the doomed lovers. Very little remains in common with Shakespeare’s version, however: I Capuleti e I Montecchi retains only the protagonists’ names, the faked death and the debacle of missed messages. Romeo and Juliet, in fact, begin the opera already in love.