A proud throwback to the days when opera truly earned its “grand” modifier, Houston Grand Opera’s new production of “Romeo and Juliet” is as gorgeous to look at as it is to listen to. The story you no doubt know, but that hardly matters. Director Tomer Zvulun and his talented cast make it easy to disappear into the lavish production design and, even better, Charles Gounod’s luxurious music.

Of course, any staging of “Romeo,” no matter the medium or era, comes down to the chemistry between Shakespeare’s doomed lovers. This one, onstage at the Wortham Center through May 11, is blessed by extraordinarily talented leads in Michael Spyres and Adriana González. Both are making their HGO debuts — or, in Spyres’ case, almost: He replaced an ailing Lawrence Brownlee for one performance of Donizetti’s “La Favorite” in January 2020.

The feuding-families scenario primes the production for maximum drama. Juliet is something of an OG (original goth) who, not long after first laying eyes on Romeo, declares “the grave will be my marriage bed” if he winds up promised to another. If she only knew. (Although Shakespeare is notoriously tough to adapt for the operatic stage, Jules Barbier and Michel Carré’s libretto manages to incorporate quite a few of the play’s best-known lines, à la “wherefore art thou Romeo?,” etc.)

Guatemala native Gonzalez, who trained at the Paris National Opera’s Atelier Lyrique, easily aligns her formidable soprano with Juliet’s fiery temperament. Crushing a series of spine-tingling high notes in her opening lines, she consistently digs into the fertile tension between innocence and passion that drives her character, culminating late in Act 4 with an aria that drew generous applause and a few shouts of approval. It’s a demanding role and an inspired performance.

As Romeo, the Missouri-born Spyres basks in the lower end of his range, infusing his vocals with real heft and lingering resonance. (His 2021 album, in fact, is called “Baritenor.”) Its dark undercurrents foreshadow the lengths he’ll go in the name of passion — things take an unexpectedly Tarantinoesque turn in the Act 3 gunfight with Juliet’s hot-headed cousin Tybalt — but Spyres’ resplendent tone never falters. By the time Romeo comes across the (seemingly) dead Juliet in her tomb, the sorrow is so thick he sounds more than glad to be joining her.

Zvulun, who has also directed “Rigoletto” and “The Flying Dutchman” for HGO in recent seasons, ensures that the busy ensemble scenes bracketing the opera’s more intimate moments match the grandeur of Gounod’s 1867 score, conducted by HGO artistic and music director Patrick Summers. Awash in gowns of teal and purple, the opening ball bustles and hums, including a play-within-a-play production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Silhouetted angels, stationed around the split-level stage from time to time, make a striking recurring image, standing watch as silent harbingers of doom.

This “Romeo and Juliet” is very much a homegrown production, with more supporting roles than usual filled out by HGO Studio artists and alumni. Apart from soprano Sun-Ly Pierce as Romeo’s impish page Stephano and mezzo-soprano Emily Treigle as Juliet’s nosy nurse, it’s a repository of fine baritone and bass singing: Thomas Glass as the lusty Mercutio; Nicholas Newton as the kindly Friar Laurence; and William Guanbo Su as the over-it Duke of Verona. Frequent HGO guest Donnie Ray Albert also appears as Juliet’s hospitable but blinkered father.

Still, the opera’s emotional core is the chemistry between Gonzalez and Spyres in their four electric duets, including a finale that fudges the story a little bit as it pulls out all the emotional stops: Instead of waking up to Romeo dead, Juliet comes to in time for them to share one heartbreaking final number. But this most evergreen of tragedies doesn’t quite end there. Gounod was good enough to give Summers and the orchestra the last word, and it is a very sad one indeed.

Chris Gray is a Galveston-based writer.