First, a confession: I have become a concert opera junkie and I love Washington Concert Opera. If you want the experience of concentrating on the music and the singing in an opera, WCO is where you go. Now, a funny thing happened on the way to attend their performance of Hamlet (1868) on Sunday night. I thought I was going to see an opera version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. You know, how Verdi did Otello and Macbeth. I had heard the name of the composer Ambroise Thomas but not seen any of his works. I was very much looking forward to seeing this production, though fully expecting to see Shakespeare in opera form. And yeah, it was…mostly.
l to r: Matthew Scolin, Matt Hill, Lisette Oropesa, Jacques Imbrailo, Maestro Antony Walker facing the orchestra, Eve Gigliotti, Tom Fox, and Timothy Bruno. Photo by Don Lassell; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
I have some more confessions; so, let’s clear the plate. First, I usually attend the pre-opera talks, and for WCO, I usually attend Peter Russell’s lecture a week before the opera. This time I went in cold. Then as I looked over the program book, I was surprised to see that the singer singing the role of Prince Hamlet, Jacques Imbrailo, was a baritone - baritone is way too hefty for the Hamlet I know, and when I heard Mr. Imbrailo sing, I was even more surprised. His voice is so pure and silky I think he should have been a tenor; I have started to think of him as opera’s Bing Crosby. This guy should be singing Christmas music with the Three Tenors and instead, he’s singing, in a bitter tragedy, the principal role of Hamlet, who is going to commit murder and get killed himself…ah, or so I thought! In reading Mr. Russell’s program notes I saw that composer Thomas wanted to write the role for a tenor but the best singer around was a baritone; after hearing Mr. Imbrailo sing, it is hard to disagree with composer Thomas’ decision.
A duet between Ophelia (Lisette Oropesa) and Hamlet (Jacques Imbrailo). Photo by Don Lassell; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
I now know that the libretto written by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier is based on a version of Hamlet written by Alexander Dumas pére and Paul Meurice. It turns out that Dumas and Meurice adapted the play to fit French sensibilities, and Carré and Barbier fashioned the libretto from their text to further attract paying French customers to the Broadway of its day, Parisian opera. So, drop a few characters, drop a few scenes, add a scene, put in some crowd-pleasing arias, and voila! Bears a resemblance to Shakespeare. In truth though, it is a crowd pleaser.
As the opera began, I was thinking, wow, this music is really good, great melodies and orchestration. I could have told you that the music for the celebration of Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, and King Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle and father-in-law was a regal affair with my eyes closed. The use of the lone French horn, oboe, and bassoon was effective at communicating mood. Loving it, and then I started to think, wait a minute. This music is too pretty and romantic for this story. Hamlet has realized his father was poisoned by Claudius to get his crown, and his Mother is complicit; he is withdrawing from his betrothed, sending her spiraling into madness. Where is the anxiety, the extreme tension in the music? This situation even calls out for dissonance in the music. At one point, a bassoon sounded sharp to me as it rose quickly in its register and what seemed like a mistake sounded very appropriate for what was happening in the drama. Now in fairness, the end of Act II was a barn-burner with all singers, the chorus, and the orchestration raising the tension and conflict to an appropriate level. And from that point, the music had additional moments when it seemed to rise to the occasion, but for much of the opera, it was not only that I was not seeing Shakespeare, I also was not hearing Shakespeare. One could imagine the album coming out, titled Hamlet’s Greatest Hits.
The final shocker was the ending – Hamlet, though he is wounded lives to be hailed as the next King. Ok, I can accept no reference to poor Yorick and no Polonius saying to thine own self be true, but Hamlet lives?! What all this means is that I simply viewed the opera with the wrong mind set. I had trouble appreciating it for what it was because it was not what I expected. I blew this one. So, let me talk about what I liked.
Hamlet (Jacques Imbrailo) rebuffs Gertrude (Eve Gigliotti) wanting to finalize wedding plans with Ophelia (Lisette Oropesa). Photo by Don Lassell; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
First, the music was very enjoyable. Ambroise Thomas was a talented composer. Musicologists tend to place him in the follower, rather than leader category, but I have also heard similar criticism of Puccini. I definitely will attend this opera again if WCO performs it in the future, but I will be better prepared. Being able to watch Artistic Director and Conductor Antony Walker on the stage is great fun. He conducts with such enthusiasm that occasionally both his feet leave the floor at the same time. It’s interesting to see him pause, waiting for cues from the singers and even the audience when we applauded. And the WCO Orchestra sounds great in the Lisner Auditorium. The chorus led by Chorus Master Mark Trawka added measurably to the performance with a beautiful sound. In addition to its five acts, the fully staged opera includes a ballet; this was not part of WCO’s performance, but I’d love to see a ballet that fits with Hamlet.
I have already mentioned how well Mr. Imbrailo sang and what a marvelous voice he possesses. In fairness I should also add that he gave a good acting performance. Now I will mention what I and many in the audience were greatly anticipating, the singing of soprano Lisette Oropesa as Ophelia. Let me put it this way, when she finished her arias in the Ophelia’s Mad Scene, the thunderous applause went on so long that Maestro Walker had to cut it somewhat short. Wow; it is so nice to get the performance you came for. She possesses a lovely voice and her coloratura trills and runs sound perfect to me. She acted out the Mad Scene to enhance its delivery with the stage all to herself and the orchestra. Thank you WCO for bringing Ms. Oropesa to DC.
In her show stopping Ophelia Mad Scene, Lisette Oropesa pauses before exiting. Photo by Don Lassell; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
The performer who was most perfectly cast in a role was mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti. I enjoyed her singing and she was entirely convincing as Gertrude. Credible performances were also turned in by star baritone Tom Fox as Claudius and star bass Brian Kontes as the ghost of Hamlet’s father. It was fun to see Jonas Hacker again, this time as Laertes, Ophelia’s brother; this young tenor is good. The performance was also enhanced by the participation of bass Matthew Scolin as Horatio, tenor Matt Hill as Marcellus, and bass Timothy Bruno in the brief appearance of Polonius. It was nice to see Mr. Bruno again since his days at Wolf Trap Opera. Mr. Scolin and Mr. Hill are members of the Singing Sergeants of the US Air Force; they definitely enhanced my interest in hearing that group sing. The ensemble arias tended to be especially effective. I hope WCO will be judicious about adding acting elements. At the end when Scolin and Hill reappeared as gravediggers, they sat on the floor while appearing to be drinking heavily, a funny bit and enjoyed as such, but definitely contrary to the gravity of that scene and distracting from the purpose of opera presented in the concept format, a concentration on the singing and music.
Ok, my bad on this one. If you get a chance to see Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet, check it out for yourself. And I recommend you check out anything performed by Washington Concert Opera.
The Fan Experience: Washington Concert Opera’s next performance will be Giuseppe Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra on April 5. The acoustics in Lisner Auditorium are good, but the best seats for sound are the ones nearer the center of the auditorium, away from the walls. When I drive down to their late Sunday afternoon performances, it is usually possible to find on street parking, which is usually after metered hours – be sure to check the signs where you park. The Foggy Bottom Metro Stop is only about three blocks away. You can check the schedule for the Singing Sergeants at this link.