Who composed the opera Roméo et Juliette, based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet?

Charles Gounod composed the opera Roméo et Juliette, based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Gounod’s French grand opera premiered at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris in 1867. The libretto was written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, whose adaptation follows the central romance and tragic ending while reshaping Shakespeare’s play for operatic performance.

The opera is known for giving Romeo and Juliet several lyrical encounters, including a famous love duet. It also includes a celebrated waltz associated with Juliette, reflecting the formal musical style of nineteenth-century French opera.

Gounod’s work is sometimes confused with Verdi’s Otello or Falstaff, which are Shakespeare-based operas by another composer. Gounod’s title uses the French forms of the lovers’ names: Roméo and Juliette.