Thomas’s opera Hamlet contains one of the most famous of all ‘mad scenes’ for the soprano, something of which Joan Sutherland made a speciality. In 1983, she recorded the opera in what was to be one of her final recordings of complete operas. The set is adorned with Michael Stennett’s beautiful portrait of Sutherland as Ophelia, reproduced by kind permission of the artist and the conductor on this set, Richard Bonynge.
AMBROISE THOMAS
Hamlet
Hamlet Prince of Denmark – Sherrill Milnes
Ophélie Daughter of Polonius – Joan Sutherland
Claudius King of Denmark – James Morris
Gertrude Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother – Barbara Conrad
Laërte Son of Polonius – Gösta Winbergh
Marcellus An officer – Keith Lewis
Horatio Friend of Hamlet – Philip Gelling
Le Spectre Ghost of the dead King, Hamlet’s father – John Tomlinson
Polonius Lord Chamberlain – Arwel Huw Morgan
Premier Fossoyeur First Gravedigger – Peyo Garazzi
Second Fossoyeur Second Gravedigger – Joseph Rouleau
Chorus of the Welsh National Opera
Julian Smith, chorus director
Welsh National Opera Orchestra
Richard Bonynge
Recording Producers: James Mallinson, Michael Haas
Balance Engineers: Stanley Goodall, John Dunkerley
Recording Location: Kingsway Hall, London, UK, 6–11, 13, 14, 17–18 April 1983
‘In the title role, Milnes is simply superb … I can’t think of a better performance of his on disc! Sutherland, despite an occasional unsteady moment, continues to astound […] she negotiates the coloratura with customary aplomb and is most affecting in the more lyric passages.’ Fanfare, September/October 1984
‘this colourful, lovingly prepared recording … the agility of [Sutherland’s] voice [in the Mad Scene] is just as phenomenal with the sequence of high Bs effortlessly clean of attack … The drinking song is splendid … The recording, made in London’s Kingsway Hall, is rich, immediate and atmospheric’ Gramophone, July 1984