'It was the nightingale and not the lark.' Who does not know her, the poignant love story of Romeo and Juliet, from hostile families, who love each other despite all opposition and even marry in secret? A love that must end in terrible tragedy, but which has endured the centuries as a symbol of pure love. Romeo and Juliet contains all the ingredients that make up the fabric of the greatest drama of all: lust for life, desire, rebellion, love, betrayal, despair and death. With Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare wrote the most famous love tragedy in world literature, a story that did not leave other artists unmoved.

Of the many musical adaptations of the story of Romeo and Juliet, Charles Gounod's opera is among the most frequently performed. Already at its premiere at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, during the 1867 World Fair, the work became a triumphant success. The composer delicately focuses mainly on the emotional life of the two lovers, for whom he composed no fewer than four love duets. At the same time, he also gives space to the social context of their forbidden love, in the form of powerful choral scenes and a big fight scene between the hostile families.