Roméo et Juliette: Synopsis: Act 5

Act V

A brief orchestral interlude reflects the peace of the tomb where Juliette lies on her snowy bier. Awed by the darkness and silence of the dim arches, Romeo enters, hailing the radiant beauty of his bride.

Unaware that it is a trance which gives her the semblance of death, he lifts a vial of poison in frenzy to his lips, and drinks to his beloved. He has barely swallowed the draught, when she awakens, bewildered, and joins him in a hymn of exaltation.

Click above to watch soprano Angela Gheorghiu and tenor Roberto Alagna in Act V of Roméo et Juliette

Their joy is short lived. He tells her of the poison which even now is numbing his limbs. Faintly he reminds her of the lark whose song she mistook for the nightingale.

"The moment is sweet," answers Juliette, tenderly. She too will seek the solace of death. Stabbing herself with a dagger that she has concealed, she joins him in a last plea for the pardon of Heaven. The lovers die peacefully in each other's arms.