English Baroque Soloists
Monteverdi Choir
Sir John Eliot Gardiner Conductor
Elsa Rooke Director

Monteverdi Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria

After two brutal decades of war, the weary Ulysses is washed up on the rocky shore of his home island of Ithaca. There, he discovers the hordes of depraved admirers who have beseiged his faithful wife Penelope in his 20-year absence – and launches into battle to win back her love.

Monteverdi’s opera is a celebration of unwavering devotion, conveyed in some of the composer’s most poignant, heartbreaking music.

Marking the 450th anniversary of the composer’s birth, world-renowned early music expert Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts the second in his momentous International Festival survey of Monteverdi’s three exquisitely expressive surviving operas.

This remarkable landmark project offers a rare opportunity to experience all three surviving operas by Claudio Monteverdi as directed performances in concert. They are conducted by period performance pioneer Sir John Eliot Gardiner, in celebration of the 450th anniversary of the composer’s birth.