ROMÉO ET JULIETTE

After the premiere in August 2008, the critics were largely enthusiastic: "Salzburg has a new masterpiece," they wrote, "ravishing protagonists, a great conductor and clever direction Bartlett Sher, the director, has used the Felsenreitschule's giant stage for show effects of the most epicurean kind, staging a fascinating widescreen spectacle with a tremendous amount of period costumes, beautiful arrangements as well as perfect fight scenes.

At the center of this most beautiful of love stories are, of course, the young Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze and star tenor Rolando Villazón in the title roles. Villazón was hailed as the "ideal Romeo with a noble, hot-blooded melt" and Nino Machaidze was certified as having withstood the heated pressure of expectations with an "admirable performance". After all, she was standing in for the pregnant Anna Netrebko. Yes, even more, the shooting star could read in the newspaper afterwards that she had "a soprano of pearly brilliance".