Thomas: Hamlet ****
Opéra Comique, Paris, 17th December 2018
«Être ou ne pas être…» What’s this? Hamlet in French? With an ending where the Prince lives and is crowned king? Sacré bleu ! Ambroise Thomas’ operatic take on Shakespeare has always taken a bit of a bashing from the English. The composer even wrote an alternative ending for Covent Garden where Hamlet dies, so as not to upset the natives. But the Pall Mall Gazette critic still poured scorn: “No one but a barbarian or a Frenchman would have dared to make such a lamentable burlesque of so tragic a theme as Hamlet.”
Stéphane Degout (Hamlet) and Sabine Devieilhe (Ophélie)
© Vincent Pontet
Read the full review on Bachtrack.