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42 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | FEBRUARY 2026 On Feb. 13 and 20, the Four Seasons Opera Club will observe Valentine's Day with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet served twice. On the 13th, we will present Gounod's opera and on the 20th, Prokoev's ballet. Most Americans have studied the play in grammar school and are familiar with the 1968 Franco Zerelli lm version of the play starring the youthful beauty, Olivia Hussey, then 17, portraying the 14-year-old Juliette. Without a doubt, the eternal impact the Shakespeare's work has inspired many interpretations of the play. is month we will explore in the Opera Club's genre's. Gounod's Romeo, composed in ve acts, starts at 6 pm in e Lodge eater and runs two hours and 20 minutes. His opera premiered in Paris on April 27, 1867 and entered the standard repertoire of the Opera Comique in 1873 and has been performed regularly worldwide ever since. You can refresh your knowledge of the work by reading the synopsis and/or libretto on the Opera Club website, fsbopera.org. You can even nd the bard's play there as well. Prokoev's ballet premiered in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1938 and is also performed regularly today. Perhaps the best known scene is the "Dance of the Knights" at the beginning of the second suite. is dramatic scene depicts the rivalry and strife between the two Veronese families. is orchestral piece in E minor is the most well known of the entire composition and is frequently performed as a standalone concert piece. Even Zerelli's lm score uses Prokoev's orchestration in his ball scene within the lm. You can nd a several examples of the "Dance of the Knights" on the website. Seating is rst come rst serve, reservations are recommended and may be requested via email to the address below. In January, the Opera Club website gained a self-reservation feature allowing members to reserve seats for the month's performances. Non- members become members upon attending any event. See you at the eater! ~ Harvey Toyama, admin@fsbopera. org, (951) 524-3765 Opera Club Romeo et Juliet, Mariinsky Ballet Mission Opera