When mentioning beginner operas, Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas never comes up. Even though it's based on a well-known story, and set to swelling romantic music, it has never even approached the popularity of regular introductory operas such as La Boheme, Rigoletto, and The Magic Flute. The Washington National Opera's first production of Hamlet, now at the Kennedy Center, displays the limitations of the show that may have prevented it from becoming better known.Critics have maligned Thomas's opera since its premiere in 1872. As The New York Times points out, it's seen as over the top. It takes too many liberties with Shakespeare's work, focusing on Ophelia's madness to a much greater extent than the play. The opera also nearly abolishes the roles of Laertes and Polonius, and paints the latter as evil through and through.
But these critical concerns should not have done in the piece. Though there have been some long runs in other countries, Hamlet has largely remained unperformed in the United States. Before this year's new production at the New York Metropolitan Opera, it hadn't been performed there since 1897. This is odd, since Thomas's score seems to contain everything it needs to appeal to a large audience. The soaring overture has a signature crescendoing theme that appears throughout to foreshadow that something bad is going to happen. The music is appropriately light and flute-filled during the celebratory scenes, and appropriately dark and string-filled during the serious ones (i.e. when Hamlet contemplates suicide). The opera also provides a coloratura soprano role, which is always an easy way to impress upon audiences.
Nonetheless, just being listenable does not a great work make. Hamlet has no memorable arias that leave you humming after the show the way that better works do. Much of the music is the same from scene to scene.
However, the main challenge with Hamlet is its overdrawn libretto. At three hours, the opera is about forty minutes too long. Everyone seeing the production is already familiar with the story, so the lengthy scenes of Hamlet promising himself to avenge his father, and Ophelia's 20 minute madness scene feel extremely drawn out. The one illuminating characterization is of Hamlet's mother Gertrude. She is given many scenes to express her remorse at killing Hamlet's father, and express trepidation at losing her son. You almost feel bad for her. Unfortunately, the worst role dramatically is given the best singing part. Ophelia arrives at her madness too quickly, but then spends too much time being mad. In this production, it seems like Ophelia was also given some poor direction to act physically unstable throughout, as if that would make her mental instability more believable. As a result, she literally totters whenever on stage, giving off a drunk vibe. Moreover, all the themes are presented in the most heavy-handed manner possible. Again, the audience understands that Hamlet is about indecision, loyalty, and love; we don't need every single line to spoon feed the message. There are virtually no jokes, nothing to relieve the tension during the three hour production.
Though I imagine there might be a creative way to stage Hamlet so that it provides some new insight into the narrative, the WNO's production did not seek to do that. It's staged in an unnamed European country at the end of the war. The leaders dress in military decor while the civilians dress in late 40's, early 50's outfits. Despite all these criticisms, the singing is competent throughout. Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop's Gertrude was my personal favorite. Though there were many opportunities to sneak out of the theater (after all, there are 5 acts), Hamlet was still worth seeing all the way through. In an opera-poor city, the chance to hear excellent soloists is always a treat.
