There aren’t many things that will bring D.C. residents out to Fairfax on any day, much less Valentine’s Day, so the Virginia Opera is betting that if there is, it’s Romeo and Juliet. No, not the play, but the 1867 opera by Charles Gounod. As opera adaptations go, it can be uneven. The play’s sprawling cast is a little unwieldy for an opera: Given all the dialogue, there are lots of duets and relatively few arias, and the most famous aria, “The Ballad of Queen Mab,” is sung by neither of the title characters, but by Mercutio. Librettists Jules Barbier and Michel Carre took some lines directly from the Bard of Avon but also took some liberties with a few minor plot points (like, oh, the ending). But Gounod’s music is a pleasantly melodic and sufficiently tragic, Romantic take on the original, if you can overlook the peculiarity of an English play about Italian characters being sung in French. And if you do brave the trek out to the ‘burbs, you might discover Fairfax’s other charms, like good restaurants that actually have reservations available on the 14th. The opera runs Feb. 13 to Feb. 14 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax. $48–$98. (866) 673-7282. vaopera.org.