Language: Italian
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish

Yet this enigmatic Ulisse is one of the greatest lyrical masterpieces of the nascent Baroque. Badoaro has composed an epic libretto of rare fidelity to The Odyssey (chants XII to XXII), almost literally repeating certain dialogues of Homer. The music takes on a depth and variety of affetti that appear to be Monteverdi’s signature. Thus, the characterization of the central character of Penelope, while lamenti strewn with striking dissonances, presents "representative" writing techniques close to the Ballo delle ingrate (1608) or the Lamento della ninfa (1638).

The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland is an opera consisting of a prologue and five acts (later revised to three), set by Claudio Monteverdi to a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro. The story, taken from the second half of Homer's Odyssey, tells how constancy and virtue are ultimately rewarded, treachery and deception overcome. After his long journey home from the Trojan Wars Ulisse, king of Ithaca, finally returns to his kingdom where he finds that a trio of villainous suitors are importuning his faithful queen, Penelope. With the assistance of the gods, his son Telemaco and a staunch friend Eumete, Ulisse vanquishes the suitors and recovers his kingdom.

The Return is the first of three full-length works which Monteverdi wrote for the burgeoning Venetian opera industry during the last five years of his life. Together with Monteverdi's other Venetian stage works, The Return is classified as one of the first modern operas. Its music, while showing the influence of earlier works, also demonstrates Monteverdi's development as a composer of opera, through his use of fashionable forms such as arioso, duet and ensemble alongside the older-style recitative. By using a variety of musical styles, Monteverdi is able to express the feelings and emotions of a great range of characters, divine and human, through their music. The Return has been described as an "ugly duckling", and conversely as the most tender and moving of Monteverdi's surviving operas, one which although it might disappoint initially, will on subsequent hearings reveal a vocal style of extraordinary eloquence.

Director: Sir John Eliot Gardiner (Music Director)
Cast: Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Furio Zanasi: Baritone (Ulisse), Lucile Richardot: Mezzo-soprano (Penelope), Krystian Adam: Tenor (Telemaco), , Hana Blažíková: Soprano (Minerva / Fortuna), Gianluca Buratto: Bass (Tempo / Nettuno / Antinoo),, Michał Czerniawski: Countertenor (Pisandro), Gareth Treseder: Tenor (Anfinomo), Zachary Wilder: Tenor (Eurimaco), Anna Dennis: Soprano (Melanto),, John Taylor Ward: Baritone (Giove), Francesca Boncompagni: Soprano (Giunone), Robert Burt: Tenor (Iro), Francisco Fernández-Rueda: Tenor (Eumete),, Carlo Vistoli: Countertenor (L’Umana fragilità), Silvia Frigato: Soprano (Amore), Francesca Biliotti: Contralto (Ericlea)