HAMLET

OPENS March 27 - 2010

Opera

Simon Keenlyside and Natalie Dessay bring their extraordinary acting and singing skills to two of Shakespeare’s unforgettable characters.

When this production, directed by Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser, opened in London at Covent Garden, The Independent called Keenlyside’s Hamlet, "a revelation - thrilling throughout.” Dessay plays the volatile Ophelia, whose extended mad scene is among the greatest in opera. Louis Langrée conducts.

Act I
Elsinore Castle, Denmark. Two months after the death of King Hamlet, fanfares announce the marriage of his brother and successor Claudius to the widowed queen, Gertrude. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and son of the former king, remains apart from the celebration. He is consumed by remorse and self-doubt and vehemently disapproves of his mother’s new marriage so soon after his father’s death. His thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of Ophélie, the daughter of the Lord Chamberlain, Polonius. She is in love with Hamlet and upset by rumors that he intends to leave the court. He assures her that he still loves her (Duet: “Doute de la lumière”). Laërte, Ophélie’s brother, arrives. He is being sent on a mission to Norway and entrusts his sister to Hamlet’s care. The prince refuses to join the others for the wedding banquet. His friend Horatio appears to tell Hamlet that his father’s ghost has been seen.

At night, alone on the ramparts of the castle, Hamlet meets the ghost. He tells his son that he was poisoned by Claudius and demands vengeance for his murder. Hamlet swears to obey.....

Website: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=306