Hamlet: De Billy / Gran Teatre Del Liceu, Keenlyside, Dessay, Etc

Ambroise Thomas: Hamlet - complete

This new production of Hamlet was filmed at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and stars Natalie Dessay and Simon Keenlyside as Ophélie and Hamlet and is conducted by Bertrand de Billy. The opera was written by Ambroise Thomas and was originally premiered at the Opéra de Paris in 1868. The ruler of the time was Napoleon III and in order to qualify as a grand opera and impress audiences of that era, certain constraints were placed upon it. The most notable was the inappropriate happy ending, in which Hamlet is crowned King of Denmark, which was rejected by audiences in London. However, the orchestration and drama of the piece make this a moving and convincing opera and it is still popular with European opera audiences. The key scenes of Shakespeare’s play were retained in the libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré and the care they took in translating the overall perspective of the play - Hamlet’s conflicting choices and the moral dilemma they present to him – means that the essential tragedy of Hamlet is preserved.

Natalie Dessay
Simon Keenlyside
Beatrice Uria Monzon

Gran Teatre del Liceu Orchestra
Bertrand de Billy, conductor

Recorded at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, October 2003

176 minutes
NTSC, 16:9
Sound: PCM 2.0, DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1, DTS 5.1
Subtitles: Catalan, English, French, German, Spanish
Region: 0