Thomas's "Hamlet' at the Met

Because some of the most emotionally rewarding experiences of my life have been performances of Hamlet, the play, I didn't expect to enjoy Hamlet, the seldom-performed opera by the 19th-Century French composer Ambrose Thomas. It was written with a happy ending as well as other departures from Shakespeare. Nevertheless, I'm surprisingly happy with what I saw at the Metropolitan Opera last weekend.

I can't recall a Met season with as many cast changes, especially in its new productions. Substitutes filled leading roles in Hoffman, Carmen, Attila"“ and now Hamlet. While the title role is the longest part, the drawing card for this production was the popular soprano Natalie Dessay, who was to play Ophelia. But Dessay withdrew two weeks before the premiere because of an undisclosed illness and has been replaced with the virtually unknown Marlis Petersen, a 41-year-old German coloratura soprano whose roles include Adele (in Fledermaus), Lulu and Zerbinetta.

Simon Keenlyside, the Hamlet, is respected by connoisseurs but not well known by the public. These uncertainties lend the production an unknown quality and make me wonder if it will attract decent audiences.

Rearranging Shakespeare

It is, however, worth seeing and hearing. The action packs a dramatic flow, even though the librettist re-arranged Shakespearian scenes. For example, the "To be or not to be" soliloquy comes after the play-within-the-play. Some characters have been eliminated, and the relationship of Polonius to Ophelia is given greater significance. The Met is using an alternate version by Thomas in which Hamlet does die at the end, but in an unfamiliar way. Yet it works as a drama.

Thomas's early works were inspired by Rossini and presented at the Paris Opera-Comique; but in this serious opera, written when he was 57, Thomas became an exponent of dramatic underscoring rather than catchy hit songs. His music furthers the action, although overly eager listeners may get restless waiting for big tunes.

There are a few exceptions. One hour and twelve minutes into the opera comes Hamlet's catchy drinking song, "Ó” vin, dissipe la tristesse." An unusual and lovely passage follows a few minutes later when a saxophone solo introduces the staging of the fictional murder. (That instrument had been invented by Adolph Sax a decade earlier.)

The fourth of the opera's five acts is devoted to Ophelia's mad scene, which you may know from a Maria Callas recording. Petersen is capable as Ophelia but not spectacular.

Major presence

Keenlyside, however, is a major presence in the title role. (He's onstage for most of this long opera.) From a distance he looks a bit like Jude Law, who recently played Hamlet in London and New York. His interpretation is more athletic than brooding; his Hamlet is a man of action but just can't find the right moment to carry out his plans.

Keenlyside's voice is rich and even, and I look forward to seeing more of him in standard roles in the future. (He's scheduled for Rodrigo, the baritone lead in a new production of Verdi's Don Carlo, at the Met next year.)

The production's sets are unostentatious, and the simulcast focused on faces, making this Hamlet even more effective on screen than it is in the opera house.