Gounod, Charles: Romeo und Julia / Nr.7, Cavatine des Romeo “Ah! Levetoi, Soleil!”

Sutherland Edwards, music critic of the St. James’s Gazette, wrote the following about the opera following its first London performance in 1867:

Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, in which the composer is always pleasing, though seldom impressive, might be described as the powerful drama of Romeo and Juliet reduced to the proportions of an eclogue for Juliet and Romeo. One remembers the work as a series of very pretty duets, varied by a sparkling waltz air for Juliet, in which Madame Patti displays that tragic genius, which belongs to her equally, with the highest capacity for comedy. [Vaccai’s] Romeo e Giulietta is an admirable opera for Giulietta; in which Romeo is not forgotten.