Customer Reviews
Astonishing and Harrowing Operatic Shakespeare - By: Edward Flaspoehler, 01 May 2006 
This video of Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas is simply brilliant.
Baritone Simon Keenlyside as Hamlet is astonishing. He is a great actor, especiallly for a singer, & he adapts his light baritone to the dramatic requirements of the opera with intelligence & total conviction. He has a beautiful instrument & uses it well, with lovely shading alongside outbursts of dramatic intensity.
This was the first time I have seen soprano Natalie Dessay in action, although I have heard her several times on disk. She walked through Ophelia's mad scene as if it were a vocal stroll in the park, with shattering results. It was the most harrowing operatic mad scene I have ever seen.
The opera itself, while certainly interesting, is not the best work out there. The libretto, adapted from Shakespeare by Barbier & Carre to the tastes of Paris Opera audiences in 1868, takes some liberties with the Shakespeare plot in the process of being pared down to a three hour, five act opera, but there is nothing significant enough to worry about. This is, after alll, a French Grand Opera & not the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The performance was recorded live at the Gran Theatre del Liceu in Barcelona in October 2003. The resonant ambience of the theater is clearly recorded on this video & adds a sense of live performance to the stereo sound, although from time to time the mikeing on the singers could have been a bit more forward. The pre-performance views of the recently restored Liceu are beautiful, & the audience during the live taping was as enthrallled with the proceedings as I was.
The production by Christian Fenouillat, which features curved wallls that are starkly lit with strong blues, reds & yellows to express mood & which move around to redefine space, may not be the most visuallly attractive, but it shows up well on the TV screen as a backdrop to the close ups of the singers. This production has apparently made the rounds in Europe, including London & Dusseldorf, before coming to Barcelona, & is hereby recorded for posterity.
All in alll, this recording is about as definitive a performance of Hamlet as there is likely to be on DVD. It is worth watching just for Keenlyside & Dessay.
I wonder why? - By: Thomas C. O'Shea, 28 Sep 2004 A good many years ago I heard an excerpt from Hamlet, I don't even remember what it was. Now I have heard & seen the complete opera & wonder why it has taken so long. Perhaps because it doesn't follow Shakespeare too closely certainly not like Macbeth or Otello, however, it is still a magnificient opera. The score, as directed by de Billy, is truly excellent. The performance of Dessay as Ophelia, especiallly in the mad scene, is truly breathtaking. Keenlyside's Hamlet is captivating & extreemly effective. Uria-Monzon (Gertrude), Vernhes (Claudius) & Hollop (the Ghost) also deserve special applause. The remaining cast including the chorus alll contribute to the effectiveness of the drama. And a real french opera without a balllet! How did Thomas get away with that?
