First performed in 1865, Amleto (‘Hamlet’) represented a radical new development in Italian opera, the nuovo melodramma. Composer Franco Faccio and his librettist Arrigo Boito sought a greater degree of musical unity in staged productions and a more equal relationship between text and music. In Hamlet, a play that many then considered un-operatic, they found the perfect medium through which to explore the work’s philosophical and dramatic power – not least the great set-piece scenes: Amleto’s soliloquy ‘Essere o non essere!’ (‘To be or not to be’), Ofelia’s Mad Scene and the fight scenes – in a way that strikingly prefigures the verismo operas yet to come.

This recording of Faccio’s opera produced by the Bregenz Festival is already available on audiovisual formats, so this new audio release will very much attract completists/connoisseurs. Reviewing the production, The Telegraph (UK) wrote: ‘this marvellous opera, anticipating the musical language of later Italian verismo composers, combines lovely musical interludes with superb vocal writing, and under the baton of Paolo Carignani with the Wiener Symphoniker and Prague Philharmonic Choir it carried terrific punch.’

The title role was sung by the tenor Pavel Černoch. Opera News praised his performance: ‘The role of Amleto, as it’s billed, is demanding both dramatically and vocally, with much of the writing parking in and above the passaggio. Pavel Černoch projects the part in full, brilliant, ringy tones… His manic, alienated gaze and hunched, stiff-armed demeanor work well for this role…’ (Critic’s Choice)

Romanian soprano Iulia Maria Dan (Ofelia) graduated from the National University of Music in Bucharest and made her debut at the Opera Națională București as Gilda in Rigoletto. Since 2018 she has been a member of the Semperoper Dresden ensemble where she has appeared in roles such as Contessa di Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Micaëla (Carmen) and Musetta (La Bohème).