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 complete 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.

‘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

Cast:
- 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
- Ghost of the dead King, Hamlet’s father: John Tomlinson
- Polonius, Lord Chamberlain: Arwel Huw Morgan
- First Gravedigger: Peyo Garazzi
- Second Gravedigger: Joseph Rouleau