After ten-years’ wandering from Troy, Ulysses comes home to Ithaca to find his wife Penelope besieged by a trio of villainous suitors. Vanquishing them with assistance from the goddess Minerva, he recovers his kingdom and is reconciled to Penelope. Monteverdi clothes this epic Homeric tale of virtue and constancy rewarded with music of extraordinary eloquence, tender, heroic and passionate by turns.

The large cast is headed by the distinguished tenor Charles Daniels, who gave a superb recital with Fred Jacobs at the 2018 Festival, and rising star Helen Charlston, who appears regularly at SVF. It also includes advanced singing students from UK conservatoires and universities, mentored in the specialist techniques required for Monteverdi by our chairman Stephen Varcoe with Fred Jacobs and Peter Holman.

Concert supported by donors to The Monteverdi Project Fund