I Capuleti e i Montecchi

I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Opera by Vincenzo Bellini
Giuditta Grisi and Amalia Schutz
at La Scala, December 1830
LibrettistFelice Romani
LanguageItalian
Based onLuigi Scevola's play Giulietta e Romeo
Premiere
11 March 1830 (1830-03-11)

I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues) is an Italian opera (tragedia lirica) in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo and based on the play of the same name by Luigi Scevola written in 1818, thus an Italian source rather than taken directly from William Shakespeare.

Bellini was persuaded to write the opera for the 1830 Carnival season at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, with only a month and a half available for composition. He succeeded by appropriating a large amount of music previously written for his unsuccessful opera Zaira.

The first performance of I Capuleti e i Montecchi took place on 11 March 1830.[1][2]