About the work
A tragedy in three acts and four scenes by Riccardo Zandonai to a libretto by Arturo Rossato, drawn not from Shakespeare's play but from its Italian sources, chiefly Luigi da Porto's novella "Historia novellamente ritrovata di due nobili amanti" (1531) and Matteo Bandello's version (1554). It was first performed on 14 February 1922 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.
Plot
The lovers Giulietta and Romeo are kept apart by their feuding families; after killing Giulietta's kinsman Tebaldo in a fight, Romeo must flee to Mantua. A singer brings him the false news of Giulietta's death, and Romeo takes poison. Giulietta, who had earlier taken a potion to feign death, wakes too late, and the two die together, locked in an embrace, in the sunlight.
Cultural significance
Unlike Shakespeare's version, central characters such as Friar Lawrence are absent, and the lovers die together rather than in succession. The opera was initially popular with audiences but met with reservations from critics, and after occasional revivals into the 1990s it largely disappeared from the repertoire.