Romeo und Julie

Romeo und Julie
Singspiel by Georg Benda
Georg Benda in 1751
Librettist	Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter
Language	German
Based on	Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
Premiere	25 September 1776 (1776-09-25) Ekhof Theatre, Gotha

Romeo und Julie is a singspiel in three acts by composer Georg Benda. The opera has a German libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter that is based upon Christian Felix Weiße's translation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Gotter's libretto eliminates many of Shakespeare's characters and most of the original play's comedic elements. It does, however, adhere to unities of time and place. Gotter's text also makes Julie the strongest and most important character in the opera, which is further reflected in Benda's score. Gotter also gave his version of Romeo and Juliet a happy ending, in accordance with operatic tradition at that time.^[1]