Monteverdi: Il ritorno d'Ulisse

Following their acclaimed production of Orfeo in 2022, we welcome back the same creative team to perform the second of Monteverdi’s opera trilogy. John Caird will direct and Laurence Cummings will conduct The English Concert on the stage, with a stellar cast led by Cecelia Hall and Ed Lyon.

In the last five fruitful years of his life, Monteverdi wrote this opera for the carnival season of 1640, a time for music, dance and masquerading. His musical style, so astonishingly bold and innovative when he wrote Orfeo more than thirty years earlier, has developed yet further, with arias and duets that give full life and humanity to his characters.

The dramatic tale of Ulisse (Odysseus) returning to Ithaca after the Trojan War is expressed through a rich blend of myth, emotion, and human struggle. At its centre is Penelope’s enduring faithfulness, with themes of loyalty, identity, and divine intervention described through Monteverdi’s intimate and deeply expressive score, marking a key transition between Renaissance and Baroque opera styles.

Performers:
Penelope Cecelia Hall
Ulisse Ed Lyon
Telemaco Dafydd Jones
Ericlea Fiona Kimm
Eumete James Gilchrist
Iro Stuart Jackson
Melanto Rowan Pierce
Eurimaco Innocent Masuku
Minerva / Amore Claire Lees
Giunone / La Fortuna Jessica Cale
Pisandro / L’Humana fragilità Alberto Miguélez Rouco
Giove / Anfinomo Benjamin Hulett
Nettuno / Antinoo James Creswell
Tempo Thomas D Hopkinson

The English Concert
Laurence Cummings conductor

Sung in Italian with English supertitles.