A large number of operas - at least eighty - have been adapted from the plays of Shakespeare, but few of them have survived. Gounod's Roméo et Juliette has remained one of the handful of "Shakespeare operas" in active repertoire, and it has had a very considerable success as Gounod's second most popular, after Faust. The opera had its premiere in Paris, at the Théatre-Lyrique, on April 27, 1867. It was successful, and was given in both London and New York before the year was out.