Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0724359944791
Format: Classical
Label: EMI Classics
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
MPN: 99447
Number Of Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: EMI Classics
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2004-10-05
Running Time: 176
Studio: EMI Classics
Theatrical Release Date: 2003

This romantic and rarely performed opera by Ambroise Thomas is now available on DVD in a new production from the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Starring Natalie Dessay and Simon Keenlyside, this Hamlet production is guaranteed to become the benchmark for all other Hamlets to come on DVD. Dessay creates a monumental performance of Ophelie, culminating in one of the most gripping Mad Scenes of all time ("Partagez-vous mes fleurs…et maintenant ecoutez ma chanson…").

Customer Rating:
Summary: The bar is high
Comment: Great work by miss Dessay who set the bar for Ophelia quite high, perhaps a new standard for this role.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Very intense performance
Comment: Although this is not a well known opera in the US, it is very enjoyable with very good music. This performance is excellent, with all the cast doing an excellent job of singing and acting.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Dessay - Ophelia of our time!
Comment: This is really a remarkable recording and mostly owing to breathtaking Ophelia sung by french soprano Natalia Dessay. I had a change to see and hear her live in a operatic recital and she is truly the best coloratura and classical bel canto soprano of our time. She also proves this in the role of Ophelia. The most celebrated mad scene is a real treasure and it really displalys the mastership of Natalia. Her unique sharp and tender voice at the same time combined with the ability to perform all the nuances of mad mind make this scene the highlight of the recording. Bravo Natalia

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Astonishing and Harrowing Operatic Shakespeare
Comment: This video of Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas is simply brilliant.

Baritone Simon Keenlyside as Hamlet is astonishing. He is a great actor, especially for a singer, and he adapts his light baritone to the dramatic requirements of the opera with intelligence and total conviction. He has a beautiful instrument and 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 and Carre to the tastes of Paris Opera audiences in 1868, takes some liberties with the Shakespeare plot in the process of getting pared down to a three hour, five act opera, but there is nothing significant enough to worry about. This is, after all, a French Grand Opera and 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 and 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, and the audience during the live taping was as enthralled with the proceedings as I was.

The production by Christian Fenouillat, which features curved walls that are starkly lit with strong blues, reds and yellows to express mood and which move around to redefine space, may not be the most visually 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 and Dusseldorf, before coming to Barcelona, and is hereby recorded for posterity.

All in all, 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 and Dessay.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Unbelieveable
Comment: This is an amazing production and one can appreciate the incredible talent and the great loss of Natalie Dessay to the world of music. Her ability to continiue to sing and act in the "mad scene" with such amazing focus is truly remarkable. I am very pleased to have been able to purchase this DVD. I can only hope that she will recover and be able to continue to perform. The entire production was riveting and the music reamarkabley haunting.

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