CANCELLED due to Coronavirus - Hamlet: smashing opera by Brett Dean

Australian composer Brett Dean managed in 2017 what Giuseppe Verdi failed to do: write an opera to the famous play Hamlet. Markus Stenz, former principal conductor of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, is more at home with repertoire like this than anyone else. He will conduct the Dutch premiere.

A compelling Hamlet opera
Hamlet is Shakespeare's political-psychological drama about the failure of a young generation, which breaks down at the machinations of an older one. Crucial questions of life are dealt with at length. You would think that this is not directly relevant to a music drama. Yet Dean, who follows Shakespeare's play meticulously, knows how to give the complex subject matter something extra with his music. He does this with a diverse and atmospheric musical idiom. Frightening or bloody scenes are captured in alienating microtonal sound waves, while love and humor are not shunned. Comic-bitter highlight is the play ín the play, in which the actors make fun of lurid incidents at the court of Denmark.

Let yourself be convinced as well!
Dean is a virtuoso composer. With this piece he achieved a double victory at the world premiere at the Glyndebourne Festival: he wrote modern music for a reserved audience and chose a subject that every Briton can dream of. At the conclusion, the audience in their evening gowns and tuxedos nearly stood on their chairs to overwhelming applause!