Charles Gounod’s opera will return to Barcelona on February 14, 2018 and will be broadcast in many international movie theatres on February 27.

On February 14, 2018 Saimir Pirgu will sing Roméo in the premiere of Stephen Lawless’s production of Roméo et Juliette at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, the first of a series of eight performances running through March 4, 2018 conducted by Josep Pons. The performance on February 27 will be broadcast by movie theatre in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK.

“Roméo is such a beautiful role, where one can show a lot, both vocally and as an actor”, says Saimir Pirgu about the part. “It is a very long role and needs stamina, but at the same time subtlety and the right color to make Roméo’s love for Juliette vocally believable. I am looking much forward to this production at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and I’m thrilled that a huge international audience will be able to see the performance on February 27, which will be shown in a lot of movie theatres. This is a fantastic opportunity for whoever won’t be able to see it live here in Barcelona.”

Saimir Pirgu made his role debut as Roméo in 2010 at the Teatro Verdi of Salerno. He recently enlarged his repertoire of French roles, adding the title roles of Massenet’s Werther and Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust for his debut at the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow.

The Albanian born Italian naturalised tenor is one of the most important opera singers of our days, having sung at many of the most prestigious opera stages worldwide, such as the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Salzburg Festival, La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Paris Opéra National, Bavarian State Opera, Staatsoper Berlin and Arena of Verona. Performances on the concert platform led him to the Salzburg Festival, Musikverein of Vienna and Concertgebouw Amsterdam with orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonics, Bayerisches Rundfunkorchester and the Chicago Symphony Orchester. He has sung under the musical direction of conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Claudio Abbado, Mariss Jansons, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Seiji Ozawa, Daniel Barenboim, James Conlon, Antonio Pappano, Daniele Gatti, Gianandrea Noseda and Tugan Sokhiev.

Information about Roméo et Juliette at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona:

Roméo: Saimir Pirgu; Juliette: Aida Garifullina / Katerina Tretyakova; Stéphano: Tara Erraught; Gertrude: Susanne Resmark; Tybalt: David Allegret; Benvolio: Beñat Egiarte; Mercutio: Gabriel Bermúdez; Pâris: Isaac Galán; Grégorio: Germán Olvera; Capulete: Ruben Amoretti; Frère Laurent: Nicola Uliveri; Duc de Verona: Stefano Palatchi; Frère Jean: Dimitar Darlev.

Josep Pons, conductor; Stephen Lawless, stage director

Performances: February 14, 17, 19, 22, 24, 27; March 2, 4, 2018

https://www.liceubarcelona.cat/ca/temporada-201718/opera/romeo-et-juliette

[Photo by Antoni Bofill]