Review: Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Colston Hall

The passion and excitement of acclaimed conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner was evident and expectations were riding high for the world premiere of the Monteverdi 450 celebrations at the Colston Hall.

The first of the three operas to be performed, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, follows the second half of Homer’s Odyssey.

After ten years fighting in the Trojan Wars, King Ulysses of Ithaca returns home to find his kingdom in disarray, and his wife Penelope hounded by evil suitors.

With the help of the goddess Minerva, his son Telemaco, and his faithful friend Eumete, Ulysses disguises himself and goes to court, where he wins the contest for his wife, kills the three evil suitors and reclaims his former life.

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Read more: Celebrating Claudio Monteverdi with Sir John Eliot Gardiner

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The music was wonderful. The singers, illuminated over the heads of the ensemble, loved, cried, laughed and mourned. The energy never dropped – every action was prepared and executed to perfection.

The music was unlike the grand sound so commonly associated with opera – here, the beginnings of the genre in the early 17th century are gentle, the difference between joy and mourning hanging on the turn of a note.

The singers brought their characters to life. From the mischeviousness of Anna Dennis as Melanto and the tomfoolery of Robert Burt’s Iro, to the grand insistence of Gianluca Buratto’s Antinoo, and the quiet steadfastness of Ulysses himself.

Furio Zanasi was vengeful, awestruck and beautifully tender in a touching scene with his on-stage son, Krystian Adam.

He was, however, completely overshadowed by the utterly convincing Lucile Richardot as Penelope. The mezzo-soprano’s extraordinarily mature sound had a depth that spoke volumes to the loneliness of her character – she tore heart strings in her opening scene to cries of “Come back, Ulysses”: cries filled with a quiet agony and desperation.

From the swaggering arrogance of the Phaeacians to the gorgeous ringing clarity of the nymphs, the few occasions when the whole cast sang ensemble were captivating.

The stand-out moment of ensemble were the trio of suitors: the contrast between their sublime harmonies and the evil deeds they were singing about was deliciously ironic.

The English Baroque Soloists kept their sensitivity and precision despite the drama unfolding in and around the orchestra. The musicians were exceptionally talented, weaving complex melodies around the singer’s lines, improvising and ornamenting as they went.

The way the ensemble was split across the stage occasionally resulted in a mismatch of sound: but the conductor was there to bring it all back together.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducted his brain child with quiet enjoyment, precision and guidance. He trusted in the music to its performers, and let its beautiful simplicity speak for itself.

There is a stigma of stagnation that surrounds renaissance music: but the opera felt fresh and lively. The music was always moving – a stately section jumping into syncopated compound time and back again.

There were points where it was all a little too much – several scenes in the second half lacked narrative direction, which lost the attention of the audience. This was no reflection on the performers themselves: simply a case of less is more.

Monteverdi completely captures the reality of the human condition. This work is just as accessible now as it was when it was first composed – more so, thanks to the technology that has the translation flash up above the stage.

Less ornate, more real than any modern opera, and with a focus on humanity that is neither deliberately pessimistic or overly naïve, this is exactly the kind of work that will open a portal to a world of new music.

What must have been a gruelling three and a half hours for the performers flew by for the audience: the ins and outs of the story were interesting, and the performance and staging of it simply captivating.

At times funny, sombre, menacing and tender, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria is a journey for the soul as well as the ears. So, if you’re going to be in Venice, Berlin, Paris or New York, go and get those tickets, and hope that it can match the standard of the Colston Hall in Bristol.

The next performances at the Colston Hall as part of Monteverdi 450 are L’incoronazione di Poppea on May 8 and L’Orfeo on May 28. For more information, visit www.colstonhall.org/shows/monteverdi-450/

Read more: Celebrating Claudio Monteverdi with Sir John Eliot Gardiner