THOMAS: HAMLET - SUTHERLAND, MILNES, BONYNGE, WELSH NATIONAL OPERA (3 CDS)

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