Romeo und Julia is an opera in two acts by Heinrich Sutermeister. The composer wrote the libretto, after Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Erik Levi explains that the opera: "presents a synthesis of Romantic and impressionist elements. It marks a ... return to the conception of opera as a sequence of closed forms, incorporating ... stylistic features related to madrigal, oratorio and pantomime."^[1]

It was first performed on 13 April 1940, at the Semperoper, Dresden, under the musical direction of Karl Böhm, who also commissioned the work, with Maria Cebotari as Julia, and was a considerable success.^[1] It was also performed at Sadler's Wells in London on 12 March 1953, conducted by James Robertson.^[2][3]

Sutermeister's version follows Shakespeare's plot. In the final scene, a celestial chorus celebrate the union in death of the two lovers.

Sutermeister: Romeo und Julia – Bavarian Radio Chorus, Tölzer Knabenchor, Munich Radio Orchestra

• Conductor: Heinz Wallberg
• Principal singers: Ferry Gruber, Raimund Grumbach, Nikolaus Hillebrand, Urszula Koszut, Hildegard Laurich, Theodor Nicolai, Adolf Dallapozza, Paul Hansen, Alexander Malta, Gudrun Wewezow, Joern W. Wilsing, Heinrich Weber, Anton Rosner
• Recording date: 1980?
• Label: Musiques Suisses – 6263 (2 CDs)

• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Romeo und Julia, 13 April 1940". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
• Levi, Erik (2002) [print 1992]. "Romeo und Julia". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O007781. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
• "Opera: Stage and Film". The Musical Times. 94 (1323): 227–228. 1953. doi:10.2307/933399. eISSN 2397-5318. ISSN 0027-4666. JSTOR 933399.
• "Sadler's Wells". The Tatler: 17. 25 March 1953.