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William Christie, Les Arts Florissants - Claudio Monteverdi: Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (2010)

Posted By: ArlegZ

Date: 7 Feb 2023 09:15:24

In 1641 Monteverdi made this masterpiece based on Homer’s Odyssey for a public opera house in Venice. It has more characters than you can shake a stick at – presumably one reason why William Christie chose to direct it from the harpsichord – so it needs a cast that has strength in depth. Luckily, these performers from the 2009 production at the Teatro Real in Madrid are superb. Christine Rice gives us a finely-paced Penelope, full of complexity beyond the merely stoical, and with a dark voice that signals restrained fury as well as painful neglect. The South African tenor Kobie van Rensburg (Ulisse) is expertly alert to nuances of Giacomo Badoaro’s text; however sometimes the fast tempos force him to emphasise the light lyricism of his voice rather than the gravitas of the old character. Among the other performers Claire Debono deserves special mention as Minerva; she can act not only with her body but with her voice and her eyes, and makes Monteverdi’s music for this character thrilling. Above all, this production shows pace, coherence and understanding, and (something that still needs to be said in relation to Monteverdi operas) it presents all of the surviving music.
–Anthony Pryer

Performer:
Ulisse - Kobie van Rensburg
Penelope - Christine Rice
Telemaco - Cyril Auvity
Eumete - Joseph Cornwell
Antinoö - Umberto Chiummo
Anfinomo - Juan Sancho
Pisandro - Xavier Sabata
Eurimaco, Giove - Ed Lyon
Melanto, Fortuna - Hanna Bayodi-Hirt
Iro - Robert Burt
Ericlea - Marina Rodriguez-Cusi
L’Umana Fragilità - Terry Wey
Minerva/Amore - Claire Debono
Nettuno /Tempo - Luigi De Donato
Giunone - Sonya Yoncheva
Les Arts Florissants
Conductor - William Christie

2010 Baroque Classical Classical Music DVD Les Arts Florissants Monteverdi Opera William Christie

October 2023