Vaccai: Giulietta e Romeo (2-DVD) – Teatro alla Scala

Composer: Nicola Vaccai
Artists: Leonor Bonilla, Raffaella Lupinacci, Leonardo Cortellazzi, Paoletta Marrocu, Vasa Stajkic, Christian Senn, Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenze, Orchestra Accademia Teatro alla Scala
Conductor: Sesto Quatrini
Director: Cecilia Ligorio
Format: NTSC
Language: Italian
Subtitles: Italian, English, French, German, Korean, Japanese
Region: All Regions
Number of Discs: 2
Studio: DYNAMIC
DVD Release Date: April 12, 2019
Run Time: 161 minutes

Nicola Vaccai belonged to the Neapolitan school: pupil of Paisiello and contemporary of Rossini, whose fame eventually obscured his own, he was well known and appreciated at his time, to the point that an extract from the last Act of his Giulietta e Romeo was chosen to substitute the same aria in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi for an 1832 performance and this shift remained common practice until the end of the 19th century. This left Vaccai’s most notable success neglected for a long time, though it is an opera that could easily hold its own among the better-known works in the bel canto canon.

It has a taut plot with a strong libretto written by Romani, and it is “full of well-constructed ensemble pieces” (Alan Neilson, Operawire). Within a traditional, 16th century setting, director Cecilia Ligorio choses to convey a sense of doom and tragedy throughout the entire work, from the choice of costumes and settings to the stage lighting. “It really was a well-paced and visually pleasing production that successfully captured the love and hatred which drives the narrative forward” (Alan Neilson, Operawire).

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