When it comes to successfully translating the plays of Shakespeare onto the opera stage, Guiseppe Verdi is the last word for audiences and critics alike. Few will dispute that his two final operas, Otello and Falstaff, display a nonpareil musical and dramatic sophistication worthy of their original plays. However, the Shakespeare-based operas of his Parisian contemporaries, Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet and Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, have been dismissed—especially in the last century— as embarrassingly superficial treatments of the Bard’s great plays.

Romeo and Juliet.

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The revered music historian Alfred Einstein sniffed that Gounod’s tuneful operas aspired “to nothing more lofty than the achievements of many lucky song-writers.” I suspect that if Einstein had experienced a performance of Romeo and Juliet with the wealth of vocal talent and commanding stage direction of San Diego Opera’s current Civic Theatre production, he would not have given Gounod’s Shakespearean opera such short shrift.

A cast of vocally robust young singers, lithe and animated direction, and lush orchestral support make this Romeo and Juliet a rewarding, even exciting night at the opera. In Ailyn Pérez’s Juliet and Stephen Costello’s Romeo we easily see the Bard’s impetuous, enraptured young lovers, but more importantly we hear a fullness and warmth in their voices that make Gounod’s opulent lines soar.

Much has been made about these two singers being wed to each other “in real life,” but that is beside the point. What makes their relationship in this opera work is their dramatic confidence on stage and the ardor of their ensemble singing.

To describe the tall, broad-shouldered Costello as dashing is like calling Bill Gates well-off. And when Costello holds his gorgeous high notes just a few beats longer without the slightest sense of strain—now that is why folks come to the opera! His eager, athletic singing in the balcony scene—not to mention his erotic edge in the nuptial duet rolling about Juliet’s curtained four-poster—combined with his idiomatic command of the French operatic style make me doubt there is another tenor singing today better suited to this role.

Pérez won over the open-night audience with her sparkling “Je veux vivre” aria, establishing immediately her coloratura credentials and her character’s volatile nature. Her agile lyric soprano may not have matched Costello’s dynamic power, but the purity of her tone and its ease of production more than compensated.

Baritone David Adam Moore, another rising young American vocalist, gave Romeo’s companion Mercutio a strong, nimble charaterization. HIs “Queen Mab” ballad displayed the right amount of humor and a delightful sense of spontaneous invention. Familiar mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzmán (she has sung many roles for San Diego Opera, including Suzuki in last seaon’s well-received Madama Butterfly) balanced solicitude and comic bravado as Gertrude, Juliet’s nurse-companion.

As Friar Laurence, Kevin Langan’s stalwart bass undergirded his role as one of the few understanding adults in this plot of ill-fated young love. The stirring quartet of Langan, Pérez, Costello and Guzmán that culminates in the secret marriage of the young lovers by the benevolent Friar proved the evening’s most compelling ensemble.

I thought tenor Joel Sorensen overplayed the villainous edge to Juleit’s avenging cousin Tybalt, although his bright, slightly metallic tenor voice cut through the orchestral accompaniment as surely as his sword felled poor Mercutio. In the trouser role of Stephano, Romeo’s page, the pert New Zealand mezzo-soprano Sarah Castle gave a vivacious, cocky account of her brief star turn.

The brightly-hued Renaissance costumes—vivid reds for the Capulets and deep blues for the Montagues—and the easily convertible two-story unit set from Utah Symphony/Utah Opera allowed the plot to unfold with unobstructed naturalism. Cynthia Stokes’ brisk, eminently logical stage direction kept everyone’s pulse slightly elevated, except, of course, when poor Juliet sipped her potion. Keturah Stickann’s choreography added festive dignity to the opening ball scene, although the eight dancers were hemmed in by the milling cast.

Conductor Karen Keltner’s affinity for French style coaxed a vivid, keenly etched realization of Gounod’s elegantly orchestrated score. Several well-constructed fugues, including a fine four-voice fugue in the overture, reveal that old Gounod was not quite the simpleton his detractors made him out to be.

Unlike last month’s Nabucco production, the chorus has a much more modest role in Romeo and Juliet, although placing the chorus members on the upper level of this set provided them greater projection into the room. The finely-balanced chorus of mourning after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt communicated the solemnity of a secular Requiem. Kudos again to Chorus Master Timothy Todd Simmons.

This production will appeal to both traditional opera fans and Shakespeare devotees who may not have much familiarity with opera. But anyone who loves drama should find this Romeo and Juliet a splendid feast for the eye and the mind—and best of all for the ear.

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