Ted Pickell News Today

Gounod’s overture introduces ROMEO AND JULIET with a prophetic mix of lyrical romance and tragedy. Yves Abel, the Principal Conductor of the San Diego Opera, is an expert in French opera and made sure that resonant brass and lush strings produced the mood a Parisian composer of the time would have favored. The quick pace was especially important in a five-act opera some productions turn into a turgid ordeal. No chance of that with Abel leading the San Diego Symphony.

The lushly cast production, which opened Saturday and plays through April 3 at the San Diego Civic Theatre, is French grand opera at its finest