Enter the heart of creation and discover the artists at work!

The Paris National Opera offers Arop members the privilege of observing the work of the artists and the genesis of a production at different times: work sessions, pre-dress rehearsals and dress rehearsals.

HAMLET

In the 1860s, Ambroise Thomas was among those composers who, like Verdi with Macbeth and Gounod with Roméo et Juliette, chose to bring a Shakespeare play to the opera stage. He selected Hamlet, the most famous and also the most philosophical. In the version crafted by librettists Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, the Prince of Denmark loses some of his metaphysical dimension, which is offset by a score full of vivid detail, even featuring two saxophone solos.

While Ambroise Thomas draws on the codes of French grand opera – five acts, a ballet, large forces – he reshapes the form by focussing on the inner drama. Premiered in 1868 at the Paris Opera, the work was a great success. Director Krzysztof Warlikowski offers a psychoanalytic reading of the opera – here performed in the tenor version – in which Hamlet, trapped inside his memories and obsessions, relives the trauma of his father’s murder.

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Conditions of access to dress rehearsals:

• The presentation of your Arop card is mandatory to collect your ticket at the Arop control on the same evening.

• At the Palais Garnier and the Opéra Bastille, we have "Protocol" seats.

• Seats are assigned by membership level: Founding Patron members (Mécène Fondateurs) have priority over Patron members (Mécènes).

• Seats are assigned by order of booking arrival (first booking, first served) and cannot be guaranteed in case of late registration.

• Seating is free in the reserved areas: we advise you to arrive one hour before the start of the rehearsal.

Download the details of the reservation conditions and the access conditions.