And we actually advertised it in the program as three hours and 55 minutes, and it was a bit like selling something at $9.99. And our version was very long, it was four hours. WEST: I played Hamlet for a year and three days for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford on Avon. Hamlet doesn't need Jeff Wilson in order for it to be a successful text, much to my devastation.Īnd finally, actor and director Samuel West, who knows the Danish prince very, very well. I teach a course called “Why Shakespeare?” And lo and behold, every semester Hamlet just teaches itself. WILSON: What the hell is a preceptor? Basically, I’m a lecturer. He’s a preceptor of expository writing at Harvard. And it was a real love-fest too, everybody got along, which is kind of amazing in the scheme of things. And in a way, trying to catch the spirit of it without necessarily the letter of it. Cori worked closely with Brett Dean and Matthew Jocelyn to develop this opera.ĮLLISON: It was great fun reconfiguring it into operatic form. Next, Cori Ellison, an opera dramaturg who’s on the vocal arts faculty at Juilliard. So I knew we were going to be very good friends. I'd actually met Brett at a festival in Slovenia, bizarrely, and his first act when we first met was to put a can of beer in my hand. And unlike the title character, he had no questions about taking on this role.ĬLAYTON: I’d never sung a role that big before, and of course I said “yes” straight away. He premiered the role of Hamlet at the Glyndebourne Festival in England back in 2017. Well, let me introduce you to the crack team of guests who are going to help us get to the bottom of it.įirst, tenor Allan Clayton. Like, why do you and I and most random strangers on the street know the opening lines of Hamlet’s famous soliloquy from hundreds of years ago? How does adding music change this text that we know so well? And what can it possibly mean to us today? But for us here today, there are a few more. Now these two boil down the whole tragedy into just twelve scenes - the absolute essence.Īnd of course, among the twelve scenes is Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, “To Be or Not To Be.” It’s the speech where Hamlet thinks out loud about the hardships people face and wonders: is it really worth it, this whole life thing? Is it actually better to exist - to be - or not to be?įor Hamlet, that is the question. Most recently by composer Brett Dean and librettist Matthew Jocelyn. It’s been played by some of the greatest actors of stage and screen, and it’s been adapted into a few operas. Hamlet stalls, plays detective, contemplates suicide, breaks up with his girlfriend, and then dies along with pretty much everyone else. 400 years and still going strong.Īnd even if you know just that one line, chances are, you’ve picked up bits of the story by osmosis: something’s rotten, it’s in Denmark, Prince Hamlet wants to kill his uncle, Claudius, because Claudius murdered Hamlet’s father and then married his mother. And somehow, everybody knows that it's from Hamlet , “To Be or Not To Be.” That's gotta be one of the most recognizable lines in English literature. And that’s why it’s relevant, and that’s why it’s all-consuming: because it makes you question life and death, and that’s the biggest thing of all. Today, it’s “To Be or Not To Be” from Hamlet, in the opera by Brett Dean.ĬLAYTON: You know, it’s an existential howl into the void. GIDDENS: Every episode, we ask big questions about a single aria so that we can understand it better. WEST: You know, you can’t sit back and go, “This bit doesn’t apply to me.” Yes mate, it does. GIDDENS: From WQXR and the Metropolitan Opera, this is Aria Code. WILSON: He’s in so much pain that he thinks that death, nothingness, would be better than what he currently feels. Just a heads up: This episode includes a discussion of suicide and a suicide attempt, so if you want to skip this one, we totally understand.Īnd if you struggle with suicidal thoughts, please call 911 or the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-80.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |