19 May 2017
Brett Dean's Hamlet at Glyndebourne
Image: Brett Dean © Pawel Kopczynski
One of the major events of the 2017 Australian new music year will take place on 11 June in the UK, when Brett Dean and Matthew Jocelyn's opera Hamlet will receive its world premiere at the Glyndebourne Festival.
'I was attracted by the sheer wonder and beauty of the text and the endless theatrical - and to my mind, musical - possibilities of its characters and themes. Now emerging at the other end of the compositional process, I do think that the almost sacred nature and familiarity of the text may well have put composers off over the centuries, especially when contemplating Hamlet's über-famous soliloquy', says Brett Dean about his work. You can read more about Dean's thoughts at the completion of the work process in David Allenby's interview on the Boosey & Hawkes website.
The world premiere on 11 June will be followed by seven further performances, with the last one on 6 July. Currently there is still availability for several performances - please see the Glyndebourne website for up-to-date details. The production will be directed by Neil Armfield, with Vladimir Jurowski conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Glyndebourne Chorus. Soloists include Allan Clayton as Hamlet, Sarah Connolly as Gertrude and Barbara Hannigan as Ophelia. After the festival, the work will go on tour in the UK towards the end of the year.
AMC resources
Brett Dean - AMC profile (biography, works, recordings, articles)
Hamlet at Glyndebourne 11 June 2017 - premiere details in the AMC calendar
© Australian Music Centre (2017) — Permission must be obtained from the AMC if you wish to reproduce this article either online or in print.
Subjects discussed by this article:
- Hamlet by Matthew Jocelyn and Brett Dean
Comments
Be the first to share add your thoughts and opinions in response to this article.
You must login to post a comment.