17세기 초반 베네치아 학파의 최대 작곡가인 몬테베르디의 호머의 서사시 에 바탕을 둔 오페라 '율리씨즈의 귀환' 은 240년간이나 잊혀져 있다가 발견되어 그의 대표적인 오페라 작품으로 손꼽힌다. 르네상스와 바로크를 연결하는 핵심작품으로 자리매김하고 있는 본 오페라는 철저한 고증에 따라 오케스트레이션을 편성한 고음악의 대가 아르농쿠르와 Michael Gruber 의 기획, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle 의 스테이징이 결합되어 장관을 이루고 있다.

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For 240 years nothing was known of Monteverdi’s Odysseus opera, a work based closely on books 13 to 23 of Homer’s epic poem. But it did not take long after the opera’s discovery for it to be hailed as a key work marking the threshold between the Renaissance and Baroque periods. We have Nikolaus Harnoncourt to thank for the fact that a musicologically sound ? if ultimately “unofficial” ? catalogue of conventions for Monteverdi performance practice has survived until the present day. The conductor developed his theories about authentic instrumentation from a wide range of sources. The spectacular success enjoyed by this opera 25 years ago at the Zurich Opera was due in no small measure to the breadth of tonal colour achieved by this amazing ensemble of instruments. Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s ingenious staging was accompanied from the orchestra pit by raspings, whistlings and strummings, the like of which no opera-going public had heard before. This spectacular Monteverdi-cycle in the Seventies was followed by a directing effort from Klaus Michael Gruber, who studied under Strehler at the Piccolo Teatro and who also gave successful acting performances in, amongst others, “The Lovers on the Bridge” by Leos Carax. Vesselina Kasarova and Dietrich Henschel, two of the most brilliant vocalists of our times make this production unforgettable.

Vesselina Kasarova, Malin Hartelius, Isabel Rey, Martina Jankova, Cornelia Kallisch, Dietrich Henschel, Jonas Kaufmann, Rudolf Schasching, Reinhard Mayr, Martin Zysset, Thomas Mohr, Martin Oro, Pavel Daniluk, Gi