We’re turning to a 21st century American opera by Joseph Summer on this week’s Sunday Opera (1/18 3:00 p.m.) in his treatment of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”
The 2006 work stays very close to the original play (unlike the Ambroise Thomas), and the straightforward treatment of the text by Summer, fits neatly into his three-act structure.
The only change in the storyline is that there is no original on-stage meeting with the ghost of Hamlet’s father. Other than that, if one knows the play, one will have no problem following the opera. That, and host Michael Kownacky has done his best to outline what will happen in each act.
The cast includes Omar Najmi as Hamlet, Ophelia is Brianna Robinson, Kevin Thompson as Polonius, Evan Bravos as Claudius, and Michelle Trainor as Gertrude. They’re joined by Katherine Pracht as Horatio, Neal Ferreira as Laertes, Melanie Fogeron as the Player Queen, and Joseph Hubbard as the Player King and John, the Gravedigger. The rest of the company includes Dobromir Momekov as Rosenkrantz, Teodor Petkov as Guildenstern, Maria Anastoasova as Will, Edward Vere as the Prologue, Emil Zhelev as the Priest, and Audrey Mitev is the Child.
They’re joined by the Ruse Symphony Orchestra and Opera Chorus with Leo Hussain conducting.
After the opera, we’ll conclude with a few other pieces by Summer of works of Shakespeare he’s set to music which seems to be his focus. They include sonnets 97 & 98 and the epilogue to “The Tempest,” another of his operas. Our soloists in these pieces include Brianna Robinson, Omar Najmi, and Andy Papas, and they’re joined by The Ulysses Quartet.
