Monteverdi 450 Ulisse 2017 by Monteverdi, Fri 13 Oct 2017, From (2017/2017), Directed by Elsa Rooke, John Eliot Gardiner,, Conductor John Eliot Gardiner, Colston Hall, Bristol, United Kingdom

In 2017, to mark the 450th anniversary of the birth of Monteverdi, the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists and an exemplary cast of world-class singers performed the composer’s 3 surviving operas: L’Orfeo, L’incoronazione di Poppea & Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. The tour of this Monteverdian trilogy reached audiences at La Fenice Venice, the Salzburg, Lucerne and Edinburgh Festivals, as well Aix en Provence, Barcelona, Chicago and New York. The Monteverdi 450 Project was awarded the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera. Accademia Monteverdiana In 2016, to prepare for our ambitious international tour for Monteverdi’s 450th anniversary, we conducted a series of workshops under the auspices of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice. During the week, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the soloists selected for the Monteverdi 450 project explored Monteverdi’s aesthetic and compositional practice through the study of his Madrigals, alongside key scenes from the surviving operas. They were joined by a group of distinguished musicologists, with the workshops providing a platform for scholarly discussion on historically informed performance practice and its relevance for today’s audiences. The week of study and exploration culminated in a final showcase concert held in the beautiful Sala degli Arazzi (Hall of Tapestries) of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on 30 April 2016. Monteverdi Choir English Baroque Soloists Sir John Eliot Gardiner Conductor & Co-director Elsa Rooke Co-director Rick Fisher Lighting Designer Matthew Muller Production Manager Noel Mann Stage Manager Paolo Zanzu & Antonio Greco Musical Assistants Matteo Dalle Fratte Language Coach Patricia Hofstede & Isabella Gardiner Costumes Soloists Krystian Adam Francesca Biliotti Hana Blažíková Francesca Boncompagni Gianluca Buratto Robert Burt Michal Czerniawski Anna Dennis Lea Desandre Francisco Fernández-Rueda Silvia Frigato Kangmin Justin Kim Reginald Mobley Marianna Pizzolato Lucile Richardot Gareth Treseder Carlo Vistoli John Taylor Ward Zachary Wilder Furio Zanasi