“Look, what isHamlet?”Jocelyn said to Dean.“There are
three versions published in his lifetime or shortly thereafter,
one of which is extremely contentious, and the play is not
original anyway. The only character of Shakespeare’s own
invention was Fortinbras. Otherwise it was just one of the
well-known revenge plays of the time. Everyone had a
crack at it.”For Dean, that took away some of the mystique
and it made the whole thing more approachable.
“The operatic potential ofHamletis huge,”says a now
evangelical Dean.“The themes of life and death, love and
betrayal have opera written all over them. Even the fact
that Hamlet is a thinker, a man given to self-awareness
and self-appraisal, lends itself well to opera.”
As a violist turned composer, Dean was exposed to
opera as a teenager playing under John Curro in the
Queensland Youth Orchestra. Curro also directed the
North Queensland Opera Festival and young Brett went
three years running to play Donizetti,Verdi and, best of
all, Puccini’sMadama Butterfly.“Soloists were from the
Elizabethan Trust, precursor of Opera Australia, the chorus
were local enthusiasts, and it was all run by the local
General Motors dealer,”he recalls.“It was the most bizarre
and yet wonderful experience. The town hall was converted
into a sort of regional opera theatre to cater for the large
Italian migrant population who’d come over perhaps before
the war and were part of the local cane cutting industry.”A few years later, at the Queensland Con, he played in
Britten’sAlbert Herringwith Georg Tintner conducting.But
joining the Berlin Phil, it was Karajan’s Salzburg Easter
Festival outings that really made an operatic man out of
Dean who played in five or six different operas under his
leadership, includingTosca,Don GiovanniandDon Carlo.
“Then, in Abbado’s time, the fascination with opera
took a hold on the burgeoning, ambitious composer
within,”Dean recalls.“Things likeBoris Godunov,Wozzeck
andElektrawere thoroughly mind blowing experiences.
In Salzburg it’s a relatively wide and open pit, so with theLOOK,WHATISHAMLET?THEREARETHREE
VERSIONS,ONEOFWHICHISCONTENTIOUS,
AND THE PLAY IS NOT ORIGINAL ANYWAY
“PlayingHamletinahouseIloveislike,wow!It’sjust
ahugethrill.WhenIwasfirstasked,Iimmediatelygot
myselfacopyofthetextandwenttoseeacoupleof
productionsasI’dneverseentheplaylive.NowI’ve
seenalmostallofthefilms,andastherewerelotsof
Shakespearecelebrationslastyear,I’vegottoseeactors
likeAdrianLester,SamWest,BenedictCumberbatch,
and David Tennant onscreen and onstage.
BrettandImetinMelbourneacoupleofyearsago
athisstudiotorecordthefamous‘Tobeornotto
be’ soliloquy. He hadn’t written the music yet, but he
wanted to hear how I approached it as an actor and how
itlayinmyspeakingvoice.Alotofhismusicisbased
onSprechgesang,sothatwasimportanttohim.Itwas
greattogettoknoweachotherandforhimtoaskwhat
was comfortable in my voice and what I enjoyed doing.
BrettalsocametoseemeinBerlindoingoperas
by Mozart and Rameau. I pride myself on having a
decentrange,tessiturawise,buthe’sbeenfantastically
collaborative–acoupleofsuggestionsImadetohim
he’s more than happy to incorporate. If he thinks it’s agoodidea,he’llchangeit,buthe’shisownman.Ifit’s
whathewantsthenthat’swhatwe’lldo.
I’vegotthefullscorenowand,asyou’dexpect,it’sa
lot.It’sintunewithwhatIfeel,butevenifIdon’tagree
withsomethingonthepageIalwayshavechoices.Even
ifthecomposerhasbeenquiteexplicitandaphraseis
marked‘angrily’or‘forte’,ultimatelyit’sthewayyouplay
it that shows whether it’s real anger or feigned. I went to
seeThe TempestoverNewYearwithSimonRussellBeale
playing Prospero. Watching it I thought, “God, he can
take as much time as he likes in these soliloquies!” But
IhavetosayBretthasincorporatedelementsofthat
with recitative and long pauses over chords.
Right now, I just can’t wait to start, to be honest.
When it’s curtain down on opening night, I hope the
audiencewillfeellikethey’vejustexperiencedaplay
thattheythoughttheyknew,butinacompletely
differentway,andinaveryexcitingway,andthatthey
areleftopenmouthed.Forme,IjusthopeI’veplayed
thecharacterandservedthetextandthemusicaswell
as I can – and that I’ve got some of it right, at least.”ALLAN CLAYTON ON DEAN AND THE DANE
44 LIMELIGHT MAY 2017 http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au
OHAMLET
Ophelia, after Millais(Oil on canvas) © Heather Betts