Conductor Anthony Barrese, Artistic Director of Albuquerque's Opera Southwest, has been working for ten years to reconstruct a 19th Century operatic adaptation of Shakespeare's "Hamlet." A collaboration between composer Franco Faccio and librettist Arrigo Boito, "Amleto" premiered to acclaim in Italy in 1865, but Faccio withdrew it from circulation after a disastrous revival in 1871. This month, Opera Southwest presents the first production of "Amleto" in 143 years.
Barrese talks about the history of "Amleto" and the research and reconstruction effort that resulted in his new critical edition of the opera's score.
