Hamlet (opera) - Performance History

Performance History

The work was premiered at the Paris Opéra (Salle Le Peletier) on 9 March 1868. Among the noted singers in the original cast were Jean-Baptiste Faure as Hamlet and Christine Nilsson as Ophelia. The opera was staged at the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden (later the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) in 1870. Hamlet was Thomas's greatest success, along with Mignon, and was further staged in Leipzig, Budapest, Brussels, Prague, New York City, Saint Petersburg, Berlin, and Vienna within five years of the Paris premiere.

The changes to Shakespeare's version of the story led to criticism of the opera in London. For instance, in 1890 a critic with the Pall Mall Gazette wrote:

"No one but a barbarian or a Frenchman would have dared to make such a lamentable burlesque of so tragic a theme as Hamlet."

The opera fell into neglect after Thomas' death and World War I.

However, since 1980, interest in the piece has increased, and the work has enjoyed a notable number of revivals, including Vienna (1992–1994, 1996), Opera North (1995), Geneva (1996), San Francisco Opera (1996), Copenhagen (1996 and 1999), Amsterdam (1997), Karlsruhe (1998), Washington Concert Opera (1998), Tokyo (1999), Paris (2000), Toulouse (2000), Moscow (2001), Prague (2002), Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (2002), London (2003), and Barcelona (2003, DVD available). The latter production (first shown in Geneva) was presented at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010. The Washington National Opera's 2009-2010 season also featured a production of Hamlet.