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musicaviva.com.au/pacifica | Call 1800 688 482
(no booking fees)Exhilarating, exuberant, virtuosic: experience the
intensity of the Pacifica Quartet as they perform
Beethoven, Shostakovich, Haydn, Mendelssohn
and more!
TOURING NATIONALLY 11 – 26 June
“and it was important for him too, I think, to get to grips
with the bulk of the material early on.” Clayton returns the
compliment, observing somewhat ruefully that “Brett likes
to use every part of the human voice, ugly or not.”
The orchestra will be in the secure musical hands of
Vladimir Jurowski, Chief Conductor of the London
Philharmonic, who returns to Glyndebourne after
stepping down as Music Director four seasons ago.
“[Vladimir] has brought not only an immense level of
insight to conversations we’ve shared about Shakespeare
in general, and specifically about Hamlet, but also his
inside knowledge of the house itself, including its acoustic
and technical possibilities, has been invaluable; hence the
use of spatial effects in the orchestration,” says Dean.
The gifted Scottish accordionist James Crabb will also be
a member of the cast, functioning as onstage band for the
famous play within a play. And although he says that his
Hamlet demands few other unusual instruments, in some
cases Dean admits to calling for instruments to be played
unusually. “Some of the string players have plectrums,” he
says, “and there are some midi sounds – not as extensive
a sound design as with Bliss, but still some electronically
produced resonances. There are cases where I take certain
sounds out of their original realm and play around with
them in order to create more atmosphere here and there.”
Dean put the finishing touches to the score in
Melbourne last Christmas Day and is now in that no-
man’s land between completion and execution. Comeopening night, he may be hoping for (if you’ll forgive
the pun) a palpable hit, but for now he’ll settle for
serving the playwright and engaging an audience. “I
hope they get a thrilling night in the theatre. I hope it’s
chilling and funny and heartbreaking,” he says.Hamlet is at Glyndebourne Opera from June 11 –
July 6 before touring the UK. The Limelight review
will be online immediately following opening nightTop Left: British tenor
Allan Clayton who plays
Hamlet
Bottom Left: Composer
Brett Dean
Above Right: British
bass Sir John Tomlinson
who plays the Ghost of
Old HamletHAMLET O