Composers: Ambroise Thomas
Compositions: Hamlet
Performers: Stéphane Degout bar, Sabine Devieilhe s, Laurent Alvaro bar, Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo ms, Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Les éléments, Louis Langrée cond
Catalogue Number: Naxos 2110640 (DVD)

Hamlet was the most popular of Shakespeare’s plays to be turned into an opera, but until Brett Dean’s finely judged specimen came along, Ambroise Thomas’ tuneful if somewhat surface 1868 effort is the only version to have held the stage. Cyril Teste’s sensitive modern dress Opéra Comique production uses live video projected large on Ramy Fischler’s stylised sets to get to the heart of the matter, thanks to a Hamlet and an Ophelia who thrive...