Here the iconic Verona opera – and Charles Gounod's masterpiece – makes a superb comeback in the majestic setting of the Arena di Verona. ‘Roméo et Juliette’ had not been performed in the Arena since 1977. The new production was entrusted to Italian director Francesco Micheli, who opted for a personal, highly original version: ‘An arena within the Arena, like a blood-red Elizabethan theatre. A senescent world that will not let its own children live.’ Juliette is sung by Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze, in a return to one of her early roles at the Salzburg Festival. Stefano Secco, often heard at the Opéra Bastille in Paris and other international venues, is Roméo.
