JOHN GAY (?1685-1732) : THE BEGGAR’S OPERA
New performing version by Richard Bonynge and Douglas Gamley.
Orchestrated by Douglas Gamley.
The spoken text has been adapted and directed for this recording by Anthony Besch.
Matt - Graham Clarke
Lockit - Stafford Dean
Jemmy Twitcher - John Gibbs
The Player - Michael Hordern
Polly Peachum - Kiri Te Kanawa
Mrs. Peachum - Angela Lansbury
Mr. Peachum - Alfred Marks
The Jailer - Alfred Marks
The Beggar - Warren Mitchell
The Drawer - Warren Mitchell
Macheath - James Morris
Jenny Diver - Ann Murray
Mrs. Trapes - Regina Resnik
Filch - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Lucy Lockit - Joan Sutherland
Dolly Trull - Ann Wilkens
London Opera Chorus / Chorus director: Terry Edwards
National Philharmonic Orchestra / Richard Bonynge, conductor
Assistant conductor: Douglas Gamley
Repetiteur: Sharolyn Kimmorley
Recording Location: Kingsway Hall, London, UK, March 1981
In 1981 Richard Bonynge, together with an illustrious cast of singers and actors went into Kingsway Hall for a recording of a new edition (by Richard Bonynge and Douglas Gamley) of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Written in 1728, it is a ballad opera in three acts (Ballad operas were satiric musical plays that used some of the conventions of opera, but without recitative. The lyrics of the airs in the piece are set to popular broadsheet ballads, opera arias, church hymns and folk tunes of the time).
Running for 62 consecutive performances, the piece notched up a record the longest run in theatre history up to that time. Unlike other existing recordings of The Beggar's Opera, this new performing edition features opera stars alongside great actors as well as a full-size (double woodwind) orchestra.
One of the most sought after of Sutherland / Bonynge collaborations, the original CD has long been out of print and here reappears with the original liner notes as well as the full libretto.
