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Die Hamletmaschine is an opera composed by Wolfgang Rihm to a German-language libretto based on Heiner Müller's play Hamletmachine. The libretto, subtitled Musiktheater in 5 Teilen (Music Drama in 5 Scenes), was written by the composer. The opera was composed between 1983 and 1986 and premiered on 30 March 1987 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. The premiere production was directed by Friedrich Meyer-Oertel and conducted by Peter Schneider. The role of Ophelia was sung by Gabriele Schnaut. The Hamlet character was portrayed at different stages in his life by three separate performers: the actors Kurt Müller and Rudolf Kowalski as Hamlet I and Hamlet II, and the baritone Johannes M. Kösters as Hamlet III.

The work is described in the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera as following Stockhausen "in seeking a total theatre of sound and nonnarrative, ritualistic drama."

A recording of the opera, conducted by Peter Schneider was released on CD in 1995 (Wergo #6195)

References

1. Universal Edition. Wolfgang Rihm, Die Hamletmaschine: Musiktheater in 5 Teilen
2. Warrack, John and West, Ewan (eds.) (1996). "Rihm, Wolfgang", , Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, p. 432. Oxford University Press.
3. AllMusic. Rihm: Die Hamletmaschine

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