Hamlet (Ambroise Thomas)

Overview

Hamlet is an opera in five acts by Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896) to a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier, after Shakespeare, first performed at the Opéra (salle Le Peletier), Paris, on 9 March 1868. It was the last work created in the Le Peletier house before the Palais Garnier opened. It is a free adaptation rather than a faithful one, in the grand-opéra manner; its best-known number is Ophélie's mad scene (Act IV). It was Thomas's great success alongside Mignon (1866), and was taken up in London (1870), Leipzig, Budapest, Brussels, New York, St Petersburg, Berlin and Vienna within five years (Wikipédia fr, "Hamlet (opéra)"; Wikipedia en, "Hamlet (opera)").

Marie and this work

• 1873-08-10 (007.0391, Vienna, added by works batch 01): "On va à l'opéra : Hamlet. Je le vois pour la première fois"; she likes it, admires the women, the costumes (the queen's in particular), Ophelia's mad scene and drowning, finds the funeral scene "stupide", and praises the whole Vienna house. This is her first Hamlet; the opera is Thomas's (the Hofoper repertory at that date is not independently checked).
• 1883-01-10 (097.0419): "Nous allons à l'Opéra, la comtesse de Kessler a envoyé sa loge, Hamlet; en fait d'homme mon père et Saint Amand." They return at half past eleven. Hamlet at the Opéra can only be Thomas's opera.
• 1883-02-22 (098.0386): "Il y a des jouissances en dehors de tout, je suis très heureuse ce soir, je viens de lire Hamlet en anglais et je suis bercée par la musique d'Ambroise Thomas." Here Hamlet is Shakespeare's play (which she has read in English); the music in her head is Thomas's. This is the only reference that concerns the play rather than the opera; a Shakespeare entry (not part of this batch) should carry the reading.
• 1884-02-02 (103.0249): a private list of associations: "Eh bien ce serait comme qui dirait les Bergers de Bastien. ... Musique: Hamlet." She attaches Thomas's Hamlet (or its idea of Hamlet) to Bastien-Lepage. Which sense (opera or play) she means is not stated; the presence of "Musique:" points to the opera, and the previous mention shows the two were already linked in her mind.

Sources

• Wikipédia fr, "Hamlet (opéra)"; Wikipedia en, "Hamlet (opera)".
• Libretto and vocal score: Internet Archive / IMSLP, as linked above.