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Allan Clayton (Hamlet) and the cast of Opera Australia's production of "Hamlet" |
Composed by
Brett Dean – Libretto by Matthew Jocelyn
Conducted by
Tim Anderson – Directed by Neil Armfield AO
Set Design
by Ralph Myers – Costumes designed by Alice Babidge
Movement
directed by Denni Sayers – Fight Director Nigel Poulton
Lighting
designed by Jon Clark –Sound Designed by Bob Scott.
Joan
Sutherland Theatre – Sydney Opera House July 20th - to August 9th,
2024
Opening
night performance on 20th July reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.
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Allan Clayton (Hamlet) - Rod Gilfry (Claudius) - Kanen Breen (Polonius) - Catherine Carby (Gertrude) - and the cast of "Hamlet". |
Premiered at
the Glyndebourne Festival in 2017, with an all-Australian production team led
by Neil Armfield, this production has since been performed at the Adelaide
Festival in 2018, at the Metropolitan Opera in 2022, and most recently at the
Munich Opera Festival in 2023.
Finally it
is Sydney’s turn to experience what has been acclaimed as the most successful
opera ever composed by an Australian.
Anyone who
experiences this production is unlikely to dispute that claim. It has certainly
been worth the wait, particularly with this cast of outstanding singers led by
Allan Clayton as Hamlet and Rod Gilfry as Claudius in the roles they originated in that 2017 Glyndebourne premiere, and Lorina Gore repeating her Helpmann
Award winning performance as Ophelia.
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Catherine Carby (Gertrude) - Lorina Gore (Ophelia) in "Hamlet". |
Although
Matthew Jocelyn’s libretto utilises only about twenty percent of the text of
Shakespeare’s play, the story-telling and character motivations are clear
throughout. All the famous quotes from the play are there but not always sung
by the characters for which Shakespeare wrote them, and while the opera is sung
in English, surtitles are used to ensure that none of the lyrics are lost.
Neil
Armfield’s production looks spectacular with an ingenious setting by Ralph
Myers which becomes part of the story. Similarly Alice Babidge’s stylish costumes
have a timeless elegance about them which supports the action without drawing
attention away from the characters.
Armfield’s direction
is deservedly admired, not only for the compelling characterisations he has encouraged
from his singer, but for his imaginative
scene changes and the way he manages to maintain focus on the main protagonists
while moving the large chorus around the
stage so efficiently that it is often a shock to realise that the chorus has
left the stage.
Having the
nobles wear white makeup gave them a slightly butoh-like appearance which removed
them from the constraints of reality into a heightened theatrical world where
their emotional excesses felt completely relatable especially in a world driven
by the sounds of Brett Dean’s idiosyncratic and compelling orchestral inventions.
This is not
an opera that sends you off into the night humming the melodies. Brett Dean’s extraordinary
score, brilliantly rendered by the Opera Australia Orchestra under Tim Anderson’s
guidance, is so powerful and inventive that it becomes a sonic experience in
its’s own right.
In addition
to the large onstage chorus, eight additional singers performing as part of the
orchestra but situated high in the
auditorium balconies, along with percussion and other instruments, contribute otherworldly
noises in what is known as ‘extended vocal technique’.
Following
the only interval, the entire chorus sings from around the auditorium walls,
creating an extraordinary surround-sound impression of being inside Hamlet’s
head, while an onstage piano-accordionist helps create a heightened sense of
chaos to Claudius’ reaction to the performance arranged by Hamlet to embarrass him
in front of his guests.
Nor is the
role’s creator, British tenor, Allan Clayton’s Hamlet a fey young man tugging
at his forelock. This Hamlet is a maddeningly self-centred young man so occupied
with his own grief as to be oblivious of the effect of his reckless actions on those
around him.
Clayton’s
towering performance is matched by that of Rod Gilfrey, returning to the role
of Hamlet’s scheming stepfather, Claudius, which he also originated at
Glyndebourne.
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Lorina Gore (Ophelia) - Russell Harcourt (Rosencrantz) - Christopher Lowrey (Guildenstern) |
Watching
Lorina Gore repeat her Helpmann Award-winning performance as Ophelia is an
unnerving experience. Her superbly nuanced interpretation of Ophelia’s
disintegration into madness at Hamlet’s rejection, especially in the second act
when wrapped in her dead father’s jacket she writhes around the floor, is a
performance to cherish for its bravery and commitment.
Similarly
memorable was Catherine Carby as Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. Carby’s
beautifully burnished soprano and elegant bearing made her perfect
casting in a role original performed in Adelaide by Cheryl Baker, then scheduled
to be played this season by the late Jacqueline Dark, the memory of whom this
season is dedicated.
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Nicholas Jones (Laertes) - Catherine Carby (Gertrude) |
Nicholas Jones
is excellent as Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, as is Kanen Breen as the supercilious
Polonius. Counter tenors, Russell Harcourt and Christopher Lowrey, delighted as
the twittering duo, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, while Samuel Dundas offered a
strongly sung, Horatio and Jud Arthur made the blood run cold with his haunting
performances in dual roles as the Ghost of Old Hamlet, as well as the Grave
digger.
Brett Dean’s
“Hamlet” is a masterpiece of contemporary operatic composition, as is Neil
Armfield’s conception and direction. This current production, featuring so many
of the original cast and creatives offers a rare opportunity to experience the
original, brilliant, well-honed production which has not only been lauded around the world, but is
also extraordinarily entertaining and compelling. For anyone with even a
passing interest in the history of Opera in Australia, this season offers an
opportunity that should not be missed.
Images by Keith Saunders.
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW