The image of Romeo from V. Bellini’s opera “The Capulets and the Montagues”: the symbolic structure and the specifics of en travesti part

Statement of the problem. The relevance of the work is determined by the need for a deep rethinking of interpretative strategies in the performance of travesti parts in opera and their gender content in the context of the Romantic era. The attention is focused on identifying new aspects of the vocal and stage presentation of the image of Romeo in the contemporary performance practice. Оbjectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the article is to form the theoretical basics for the performing interpretation of the part of Romeo, taking into account its symbolic, historical-cultural and philosophical-aesthetic dimensions. The novelty of the research lies in the analysis of the part of Romeo based on a gender and interpretative approach, which allows revealing the ambivalence of the artistic image, its multidimensionality and iconographic nature. The methodological basis of the research synthesizes historical, genre, stylistic, hermeneutic, as well as gender and performance (Hiholaieva, 2008) approaches, which allows to comprehend the image in the complex interaction of text, music and performance practice. In the process of work, the materials of the researching Bellini’s creativity and the Italian opera of the Romantic era were involved (of the studies by A. Pougin, F. Pastura, A. Fraccollini, J. Rosselli, H. Weinstock, M. Cherkashyna, I. Drach, H. Julai and others), which made it possible to update the context of the opera interpretation of the image of Romeo. Research results. The image of Romeo in V. Bellini’s opera “The Capulets and the Montagues” appears as a multi-level symbol that combines political, love, existential and gender semantics. The party for mezzo-soprano in bel canto style allows you to convey the hero’s internal conflict between duty and feelings. The soft and flexible feminine timbre of the mezzo-soprano emphasizes the hero’s youth and tenderness. Bellini reproduces the diversity of the emotional palette of the travesti part, from tenderness to anger and despair, through complex melodic lines, rich in vocal ornaments (trills, fast passages and melismas), which require exceptional technical skill from the singers. The vocal language of the image combines cantilena expressiveness and rhetorical tension. Joyce DiDonato’s interpretation highlights the ambivalence of Romeo’s role as a combination of courage and sensitivity. The study proves the feasibility of interdisciplinary analysis and outlines the prospects of further study of the tradition of using travesti roles in the opera. Conclusion. It is stated that the image of Romeo in Bellini’s opera represents the romantic ideal of the era, embodying the synthesis of historical, mythological and philosophical paradigms. The nature of en travesti part enhances the symbolic multi-layering the protagonist image, emphasizing his internal conflicting. The results of the study open up prospects for further researching the field of gender interpreting and analysis of opera dramaturgy of the Romantic era.