IL RITORNO D’ULISSE IN PATRIA
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (1567-1643)
NEW PRODUCTION OF FESTIVAL D’AIX-EN-PROVENCE
WITH THE SUPPORT OF
GRANDE DONATRICE D’EXCEPTION DU FESTIVAL D’AIX-EN-PROVENCE
THIS PRODUCTION WAS MADE POSSIBLE THANKS TO THE SUPPORT OF ELIZABETH AND VINCENT MEYER
MUSICAL DRAMA
LIBRETTO BY GIACOMO BADOARO, BASED ON BOOKS 13 TO 21 OF HOMER’S ODYSSEY
PREMIERED IN 1640 AT THE TEATRO SS. GIOVANNI E PAOLO, VENICE
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About
After The Coronation of Poppaea and Orpheus in 2022, the Festival continues a memorable Monteverdi cycle, in the hands of Leonardo García Alarcón and Cappella Mediterranea, with The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland – reenforcing the crucial presence of the composer to our programming. The work is particularly dear to Pierre Audi for whom it was his first production – and indeed of a repertory work – for the Dutch National Opera in 1990: how does he see it thirty years later? A judicious arrangement turns the unwieldy if fascinating plot into a profoundly moving drama, the production concentrating on simplicity and sensuality. A talented cast of young singers gives new life to this material, emphasizing the intimate motion of the music and the mysteriousness of the characters: how to play Penelope’s waiting and Ulysses’s return? The approach is in keeping with the generous manner in which Leonardo García Alarcón treats the music, always highlighting the dance within.
Performances
Youth prices: €47, €28, €18, €10
Performance available with ticket packages
Sung in Italian with French and English surtitles
2 hours and 50 minutes with one interval
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