Afternoon at the Opera

The Return of Ulysses

 
people perform on a round stage with orchestra in the middle

earlyopera.com

From the Early Opera Company website

The Return of Ulysses (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria) is one of only three surviving operas by the Renaissance composer Claudio Monteverdi. As with The Coronation of Poppea (L’incoronazione di Poppea) it dates from the later period of Monteverdi’s career, and was first performed in Venice in 1640. The opera is a masterpiece: Monteverdi invests majestic music with great pathos and dramatic truth, driving with astonishing directness to the heart of each of his complex characters.

The production follows on from the tremendous success in 2015 of Monteverdi’s Orfeo – The Royal Opera’s first production of a Monteverdi opera – which was widely acclaimed for its musical excellence and innovative use of the distinctive, immersive space of the Roundhouse.