Hamlet: Komische Oper Berlin
About the Event
Immerse yourself in the stunning architecture of Berlin's breathtaking Komische Oper Berlin for the opera Hamlet.
William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet as an intimate look into the inner turmoil of his prominent main characters Hamlet and Ophélie in an equally poetic and grandiose representative of French opera at the end of the 19th century.
Just two weeks after the king dies, fanfares announce the marriage of the widow Gertrude to his brother Claudius. Hamlet, son of the king, refuses to attend the festivities — the loss plagues him too much, the new marriage comes too soon. Ophélie is disturbed by her lover's sometimes indifferent, sometimes dismissive behaviour. Is he going mad? Does he no longer love her? Indeed, the ghost of his deceased father reveals to Hamlet: 'The new king, his brother Claudius, is the murderer.' Whipped into a frenzy by thoughts of revenge, Hamlet defies the courtly power structure.
Ambroise Thomas' drame lyrique Hamlet explores the soul worlds of the characters, with a poetic and complex musical language that culminates in Ophélie's mad aria. Director Nadja Loschky stages this opera, which offers everything French opera at the end of the 19th century has to offer, from eerie graveyard encounters to pleasurable dances to intimate and musically graceful scenes, with great musical sensitivity as a sensitive social study.
Practical Information
sung in french
