Brett Dean: Hamlet
The Met's new production
It is only rarely that contemporary operas receive such positive critical praise that also accords with the public's view as this work by the Australian composer Brett Dean that boldly approaches the story, venerated as a cult object, of the Danish prince did. First premièred at the Glyndebourne Festival in the summer of 2017, Hamlet will now arrive at the stage of the opera house with the largest potential audience in the world, not to mention in the same production by Neil Armfield that was staged at the world première and with two generations of British opera greats in the cast.
Perhaps Shakespeare's most famous figure and certainly his most influential one, Hamlet has been adapted into an opera several times, a series that includes a work by French composer Ambroise Thomas, which has also been broadcast as part of the HD programme. What made Dean's most recent effort to bring Hamlet to the opera stage exciting and undeniably successful is the fact that the creators openly embraced their opera's supernatural quality. The resulting British production is now being almost exactly replicated in New York, with the Met very likely offering most of the audience members their first chance to see some of the performers along with introducing the new contemporary opera itself. Of course, this will not apply to deservedly legendary singers like John Tomlinson, appearing as the ghost of Hamlet's father, or Sarah Connolly, as Gertrude. On other hand, we are sure to be amazed by the talent of Allan Clayton, the tenor in the title role, as upon seeing his Hamlet the critic from The Times wrote, "Forget Cumberbatch. Forget even Gielgud." Also making his Met début in this production will be the young Australian conductor Nicholas Carter.
The 'Metropolitan Opera Live in HD' transmissions have been made possible through the cooperation of our partner, Cikánek Management.
Conductor: Nicholas Carter
Performers:
Ophelia...................... Brenda Rae
Gertrúd...................... Dame Sarah Connolly
Rosencrantz.............. Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen
Guildenstern.............. Christopher Lowrey
Hamlet....................... Allan Clayton
Laertes...................... David Butt Philip
Polonius.................... William Burden
Horatio...................... Jacques Imbrailo
Claudius.................... Rod Gilfry
Ghost........................ Sir John Tomlinson
Featuring: Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Creators:
Set designer: Ralph Myers
Costume designer: Alice Babidge
Lighting director: Jon Clark
Movement director: Denni Sayers
Director: Neil Armfield
Presented by: Müpa Budapest
