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The opera fell into neglect after Thomas' death and World War I . However, since 1980 , interest in the opera has increased, and the work has enjoyed a notable number of revivals, including Vienna ( 1992 - 1994 , 1996 ), Opera North ( 1995 )Julian Rushton, Reviews of Bizet, Thomas and Janáček. ''Musical Times'', 136(1834), pp. 680-681, 683 (1995)., Geneva ( 1996 ), San Francisco Opera ( 1996 ), Copenhagen ( 1996 and 1999 ), Amsterdam ( 1997 ), Karlsruhe ( 1998 ), Washington Opera ( 1998 ), Tokyo ( 1999 ), Paris (2000), Toulouse (2000), Moscow (2001), Prague (2002), Opera Theatre Of Saint Louis (2002), and London (2003).Joe Keith Law, "Three Hamlets". ''The Opera Quarterly'', 19(3), 587-591 (2003). CHANGES TO ORIGINAL STORY The opera's libretto contains considerable changes to the plot from the original play, which include:
Most notably, the original version did not end with the death of Hamlet after his duel with Laertes. Instead, the original version had provided a 'happy ending', where Hamlet did not die and was instead crowned king after the death of Claudius. For Covent Garden, Thomas provided an alternate ending which included the death of Hamlet. Overall, the changes to the original story led to criticism at the time of the opera such as an 1890 quote from the ''Pall Mall Gazette'': "No one but a barbarian or a Frenchman would have dared to make such a lamentable burlesque of so tragic a theme as Hamlet."Barbara Fischer-Williams, "Hamlet à la Française". ''Opera News'', 43(4) 42 (1978). CHARACTERS
PLOT The setting is Denmark at the castle of Elsinore. The royal Danish court is celebrating the marriage of Claudius, brother of the late King Hamlet, to Gertrude, widow of the late King Hamlet, and Claudius' subsequent accession to the throne. Claudius then "offers" the crown to Gertrude, an action on which the court does not look favourably. Prince Hamlet, son of the late King and Gertrude, has deliberately not attended the festivities. Ophélie is worried about Hamlet's spells of melancholy. Her father, Polonius, disdains her relationship with Hamlet. Laërte is en route to battle against the Norwegians and gives his farewells. Horatio and Marcellus tell Hamlet that they have seen the ghost of the late King, Hamlet's father, on three successive nights. The ghost then appears to the Prince himself, and tells his son that Claudius poisoned him. The ghost exacts from his son a promise of vengeance on Claudius, but Gertrude must be left out of that revenge. However, Hamlet is indecisive on the need to take action, and feigns madness to disguise this situation. This behaviour causes Ophelia to despair further. Claudius and Gertrude begin to wonder if Hamlet suspects the truth of his father's death. A traveling group of actors visits Elsinore, and Hamlet welcomes them. He persuades them to present the story of "The Murder of Gonzago", which parallels the story of King Hamlet, Claudius and Gertrude, to see if Claudius reveals his guilt. This does happen during the enactment of the play. Later, Claudius is at prayer, and Hamlet sees a chance to kill him and fulfill his vow to his late father. However, Hamlet does not take action then. Gertrude then tries to persuade Hamlet to marry Ophélie. Hamlet rejects the idea strongly, and then confronts Gertrude to extract from her an admission of guilt in the killing of King Hamlet. The Ghost appears, to Hamlet alone, and rebukes him for his tardiness in taking revenge, as well as reminding him not to take vengeance on Gertrude. Ophélie has gone insane as a result of Hamlet's rejection, and has drowned herself in the river. Hamlet does not know this when he sees two gravediggers digging a new grave. Laërte has learned of his sister's death and the role of Hamlet's behaviour in leading to it. Urged by Claudius, Laërte challenges Hamlet to a duel. However, the funeral procession for Ophélie interrupts the duel.
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