© In höchsten Tönen! Roméo et Juliette: Opera in the Crypt
Vienna, Peterskirche — Krypta
About the Event
An intense experience between opera and dream: the tragic love story full of fateful beauty unfolds in the unique setting of the crypt of St. Peter's Church. The ideal instrumentation gives the music delicate intimacy and dramatic depth — very close, lively and romantic.
The outstanding acoustics of the crypt lend Gounod's music a new immediacy: sensual, tender and shatteringly beautiful.
The crypt with its 80 seats is the ideal venue for this work that gets under your skin. With no distance to the audience, the artists sing and play directly in front of and between their guests. Slightly abridged (without choir) with exquisite piano accompaniment, the focus remains on the great voices and allows deep insights into the composition.
Established as Austria's smallest opera theater, the performances in the KRYPTA impress with their directness, high quality and unusual venue. Located deep beneath Vienna's St. Peter's Church, the intimate hall offers a personal experience that lingers for a long time.
The KRYPTA is pleasantly warm at any time of year.
The plot
First act
Roméo and Mercutio Montaigu have entered the masked ball of the hostile Capulet family. When Roméo meets Juliet, Capulet's daughter, it is love at first sight. But her cousin Tybalt immediately recognizes the hated Montaigu. When he demands satisfaction, Count Capulet mediates the situation and allows the ball to continue. Romeo and his friends leave the party.
Act Two
At night, Roméo sneaks into the Capulets' garden. When he catches sight of Juliet on the balcony, they confess their love for each other. They arrange their secret wedding and part amicably.
Act Three
Father Lorenzo is let in on the secret of their love. Hoping to put an end to the families' old quarrel, he marries them.
Meanwhile, Stéphano searches in vain for Roméo. His mocking song about Juliette soon leaving her family attracts the Capulets. The argument with the Montaigus present turns into a fight to the death. Tybalt kills Roméo's friend Mercutio. When Roméo arrives, he is overcome with pain. Furious, he kills Tybalt. As punishment, the Duke banishes him from the city.
Act Four
Romeo bids farewell to his Juliet, who lets him go with a heavy heart.
Her father reminds her of her engagement to Count Paris and the imminent wedding. Desperate, she asks the Father for help. Lorenzo gives her a potion that causes her to sink into a deep sleep, so that she is presumed dead. After her burial, Roméo is to free her from the tomb and escape with her. Full of hope, she drinks it and remains as if dead.
Act Five
As Lorenzo's message has not reached Roméo, he believes his Juliet is really dead. Alone with the supposed corpse in the Capulets' crypt, he drinks deadly poison. His lover awakens. When Juliet understands, she reaches for Roméo's dagger and takes her own life.
Practical Information
The 'Opera in the Crypt' series is a unique form of presenting opera at its very essence. With piano accompaniment, talented singers in costumes perform the works in the exceptional, intimate atmosphere of the crypt under St. Peter's Church. Through the short distance between audience and musicians you can experience opera in a way you have never heard or seen it before.
Program
- Charles Gounod – Roméo et Juliette
Cast / Production
Juliette Capulet Leah Manning
Roméo Montaigu Sergio Tallo‐Torres
Tybalt Andrés Alzate
Count Capulet Max Sahliger
Gertrude/Stéphano Eli Our
Mercutio Jubin Amiri
Frère Laurent Christian Michael
Musical direction Ekaterina Nokkert
Production/Lighting Dorothee Stanglmayr
Address
Peterskirche, Petersplatz, Vienna, Austria — Google Maps
