In Gotha (Germany), Benda’s ‘Romeo und Julie’ returns 250 years later

Almost 250 years to the day after its première, Georg Anton Benda’s (1722–1795) Romeo und Julie has returned to where it all began: on 27 September, the Güldener Herbst – Festival Alter Musik Thüringen (Germany) brought its 2026 edition to a close at Gotha’s Ekhof-Theater with the composer’s unusual Drama mit Gesang (drama with singing), first performed in the same theatre on 25 September 1776.

Born in Bohemia and appointed Kapellmeister at the court of Gotha in 1750, Benda was one of the leading figures in the development of German melodrama. His Romeo und Julie, to a libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter, is regarded as the first musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy. But Benda and Gotter take a striking liberty with their model: after all the torments endured by the lovers of Verona, they grant them… a happy ending! The work enjoyed considerable success in the late eighteenth century and even impressed Mozart.

For this homecoming, Michael Hofstetter conducted the Barockorchester of the Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach and Cantus Thuringia in a dramaturgical adaptation by Bettina Bartz. Aco Bišćević (Romeo) and Vanessa Waldhart (Julie) were joined by Alice Lackner and Jörg Reddin, with actor Thomas Thieme as narrator. A fitting way to bring the Güldener Herbst to a close: exactly 250 years after the work’s première, Benda’s remarkable musical take on Shakespeare returned to the very theatre where it was born.

Official website: https://gueldener-herbst.de