We’re heading back to Beijing for this week’s Sunday Opera (11/27 3:00 p.m.) and Charles Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet” from the National Center for the Performing Arts.
The cast includes Francesco Demuro as Romeo, Melissa Petit as Juliet, Alessandro Luongo as Mercutio, Yuan Lu as Tybalt, Guo Jianchao as Benvolio, and Burak Bigili as Friar Lawrence. Patrick Fournillier conducts the NCPA Orchestra and Chorus.
There’s more French music on tap after the opera. This time, it’s from the pen of Andre Messenger adapted and arranged by John Lanchberry.
Messenger composed the two-act ballet “Les Deux Pigeons” for the Paris Opera where it was premiered on October 18, 1886. In 1961, Frederick Ashton choreographed the Lanchberry version to be performed at the Royal Opera House on February 14th which was the perfect date for this story of the triumph of love with a happy ending. In this complete recording, Lanchberry conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.