Great Performances at the Met: Hamlet

Friday, October 26 at 9:00 p.m.

Baritone Simon Keenlyside, whose performance as the Danish prince received rave reviews when this production by Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser was introduced at the Metropolitan Opera, commands the stage in "Great Performances at the Met: Hamlet."

“Elegant and wrenching, intelligent and fitful,” wrote The New York Times of Keenlyside’s unforgettable performance. “You could not take your eyes off him.”

Joining the baritone is German soprano Marlis Petersen as Hamlet’s heart-broken lover Ophélie. Louis Langrée conducts this performance that also features Jennifer Larmore as Gertrude, Toby Spence as Laërte and James Morris as Claudius.

When Ambroise Thomas's "Hamlet" had its premiere in 1868, the opera featured considerable departures from the original storyline of Shakespeare’s play, most notably a Hamlet who lives and is crowned king after killing Claudius. For the opera’s London premiere, Thomas rewrote the opera to provide a tragic ending that was more in line with the original play. This production first premiered in 1996 in Geneva and went on to London and Barcelona, using the original ending. For the Met, the directors and conductor devised a tragic finale that combines the original version with the revised ending composed later by Thomas.