Lost Hamlet opera returns to stage (Faccio, Boito)

[Brian]

http://www.abqjournal.com/482398/entertainment/opera-southwest-rescues-lost-amleto.html

For nearly 150 years, rumors of an Italian opera based on the original text of "Hamlet" circulated across the globe. But no one knew what had happened to the score.

Driven first by his own "obsessive" personality, coupled with a passion for the original Shakespeare, Opera Southwest artistic director/conductor Anthony Barrese rescued Franco Faccio's creation from obscurity in the archives of Casa Ricordi in Milan, Italy.

The Albuquerque opera company will present the New World premiere of the lost opera "Amleto" on Oct. 26. New Mexico tenor Alex Richardson will sing the lead; soprano Abla Hamza will sing the role of Ophelia. The opera will be sung in Italian with English supertitles.

The opera has not been performed since 1871.

Faccio was a 25-year-old fledgling composer at the time. He set the piece to a libretto penned by Arrigo Boito, who had written librettos for Verdi's final two operas, "Otello" and "Falstaff."

The opera premiered in Genova, Italy, in 1865 to acclaim. The composer revived it at La Scala in Milan in 1871. But the leading tenor Tiberini was sick and had lost his voice by opening night. Distraught by the disastrous reception, the composer withdrew the opera and it was never performed again.

"He didn't take it well," Barrese said. "And he never composed again."

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Read the full article. Super interesting!

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Verdi should have composed Hamlet. At least he wanted to do King Lear for a long long time.