DESCRIPTION:
Ophelia's mad scene is placed at the climax of Thomas' operatic version of the tragedy, which was first performed in Paris in 1868. The scene remained long after the opera itself had disappeared form the stage and is a favorite concert piece with sopranos. Ophelia greets the courtiers and begs to join in their games. She imagines she is married to Hamlet and then says sadly, "If he broke faith with me, I should go mad." In a waltz movement she distributes wild flowers to the others and sings a ballad. But in place of the bawdy words of "Tomorrow is St. Valentine's day," librettists Barbier and Carré supplied verses about the Willy, or Ondine, who entices faithless lovers to a watery grave. The melody is interrupted by outbursts of maniacal laughter and has a vocalized refrain.

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