Acclaimed singers make TDO debut

Charles Gounod’s setting of Shakespeare’s greatest love story, “Romeo and Juliet,” closes out the 2023/2024 mainstage season at The Dallas Opera (TDO), beginning on Friday, March 1. Three additional performances take place on March 3 (matinee), 6 and 9, at the Winspear Opera House. This new-to-Dallas production of “Romeo and Juliet” stars soprano Golda Schultz — called “radiant voiced” by The New York Times — and tenor Long Long as the star-crossed lovers. Both make their Dallas Opera debuts, as well as their role debuts, in these performances. The Montagues and the Capulets have been feuding in Verona for hundreds of years, yet when Romeo (Montague) meets Juliet (Capulet) at a masked ball, they instantly fall in love, unaware of each other’s identity. But while the kind Friar Laurence secretly marries them and tries to help them escape their rival families to live happily ever after, the quarreling continues — with losses in both families — and a tragic finale for the ill-fated couple. “Romeo and Juliet” is a co-production with Houston Grand Opera and The Atlanta Opera. Peak Principal Guest Conductor Nicole Paiement conducts The Dallas Opera Orchestra and Chorus. For more details, visit dallasopera.org. — Rochelle Roe