The story of the two unfortunate lovers has always been very popular and has offered good material for works in music. As early as 1796 Nicola Zingarelli put to music a libretto written by Foppa and produced a melodrama, a mixture of acting and singing music, called Giulietta e Romeo. In three acts, it was first performed in Milan, La Scala, on January 30.
Some forty years later, in 1830, a new musical edition of the tragedy was performed in Venice, La Fenice, on March 11.The libretto, based on a French version, was written by Felice Romani and the music was composed by Vincenzo Bellini. This musical version, I Capuleti e I Montecchi, is still performed today and mixes romantic sensibility and rigorous structure; it emphasizes the conflict between the Capulets (Guelfi) and the Montagues (Ghibellini), and makes Romeo and Tybalt not only political enemies but also contendants for Juliet’s love. Other famous operas were composed in 1867, Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod and, in 1922, Giulietta e Romeo by Riccardo Zandonai, who availed himself1 of the rich and intense musical phrasing he had learnt from Wagner and Strauss.
Hector Berlioz composed a dramatic symphony for chorus and orchestra, Roméo et Juliette (1839), Pëtr Il’íc Ciaikowsky an ouverture with the same title (1869), and Sergej Prokofief a ballet (1938).
In 1980 Mark Knopfler and his rock band Dire Straits came out with a tremendous hit, Romeo and Juliet in the album Making Movies.
The pains of love, a frequent Dire Straits theme, find expression in Romeo’s lament: “… the dice2 were loaded3 from the start, I bet and you exploded in my heart…” and the tormenting question: “When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?” is echoed by the rich, mellow4 notes of Knopfler’s guitar weaving5 a touching duet with Illsley’s bass.