Recommended

“… I always find him [Gardiner] a wonderfully inspirational conductor and here he elicits from the orchestral players a sensitivity to the text in terms of nuance and inflection. I particularly liked his hand-picked soloists. I would single out Furio Zanasi as an excellent Ulysses, noble yet world-weary. Lucile Richardot similarly impresses, successful in bringing both warmth and drama to the part.  Krystian Adam as Ulysses' son Telemachus brings sufficient vitality to his role. The opera is superbly recorded, and the engineers have achieved an admirable balance between soloists, choir and instrumental players. This is music-making of the highest order.”

“… The current performance had minimal staging, with the singers able to move around in front of orchestra and chorus, and this immediacy and freedom comes across in spades – the whole performance is also given real drive by the compact and light-footed continuo group. The cast is, of, first-rate, and produces outstanding performances …”

“… This is a masterful realization of the work, with Gardiner, his choir and orchestra attuned to its pageantry, drama and sheer beauty, as well as Monteverdi’s sudden shifts through a broad emotional range. In the first act, the orchestra caresses and supports the sorrowful Penelope; the second concludes with rising battle music; and in the third the choirs of Heaven and Sea are graced with the elemental clarity and grace of Monteverdi’s madrigals. Il ritorno is a key document in opera’s early history, with an increasing shift from intoned text to dramatic song: Gardiner and company’s performance is both vigorous and authentic.”

“Gardiner’s ‘Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria’ is a very refined and noble version of Monteverdi’s composition…” ***

“… with such vivid sound, it’s arguably as satisfying a version of Monteverdi’s penultimate masterpiece as any available on disc.”