The Sunday Opera: Franco Faccio's "Amleto" from Opera Southwest

“Amleto,” an opera by Franco Faccio that disappeared for over 140 years, is the special treat on this week’s Sunday Opera (11/26  3:00 p.m.).  This broadcast is from the 2014 production by Opera Southwest and was realized and reconstructed by Southwest’s Artistic Director and conductor Anthony Barrese.  The opera premiered on May 30, 1865 in Genoa and was revised in 1871 for a La Scala production after which Faccio withdrew the score which was not to be heard again until the 21^st century.  Alex Richardson stars in the title role, and he’s joined by Abla Hamza as his Ofelia, Shannon DeVine as Claudio, Caroline Worra as Geltrude, Javier Gonzalez as Laerte, and Matthew Curran as Polonio.  Host Michael Kownacky will continue with the “Hamlet” theme after the opera with a stellar performance by Natalie Dessay as Ophelia in an excerpt from her mad scene as heard in Ambroise Thomas’ version of the opera as well as a glorious suite of music by Dmitri Shostakovich from the 1964 Russian film version of “Hamlet.”