
IL RITORNO D'ULISSE
Claudio Monteverdi
Event details
12 June – 25 July 2026
Following their acclaimed production of Orfeo in 2022, we welcome back the same creative team to perform the second of Monteverdi’s opera trilogy. John Caird will direct and Laurence Cummings will conduct The English Concert on the stage, with a stellar cast lead by Cecelia Hall and Ed Lyon.
In the last five fruitful years of his life, Monteverdi wrote this opera for the carnival season of 1640, a time for music, dance and masquerading. His musical style, so astonishingly bold and innovative when he wrote Orfeo more than thirty years earlier, has developed yet further, with arias and duets that give full life and humanity to his characters.
The dramatic tale of Ulisse (Odysseus) returning to Ithaca after the Trojan War is expressed through a rich blend of myth, emotion, and human struggle. At its centre is Penelope’s enduring failthfulness, with themes of loyalty, identity, and divine intervention described through Monteverdi’s intimate and deeply expressive score, marking a key transition between Renaissance and Baroque opera styles.
Sung in Italian with English supertitles
Booking Information
Priority booking is now open and members are invited to request tickets in line with the allocation deadlines below.
Ingrams Circle, Constellation and Patron deadline Tuesday 25 November 2025
Special Friend and Friend deadline Tuesday 13 January 2026
Affiliate Member booking opens from 10am on Tuesday 13 January 2026
Opus 40 Club booking opens from 10am on Tuesday 17 March 2026
Public booking opens from 10am on Tuesday 31 March 2026
Start time: 5.20pm
Interval duration: 90 minutes
Estimated end time: 10pm
12 June – 25 July 2026
12 June – 25 July 2026
Cast & Creative Team
Cast
Penelope
Cecelia Hall
Ulisse
Ed Lyon
Telemaco
Dafydd Jones
Ericlea
Fiona Kimm
Eumete
James Gilchrist
Iro
Stuart Jackson
Melanto
Rowan Pierce
Eurimaco
Innocent Masuku
Minerva / Amore
Claire Lees
Giunone / La Fortuna
Jessica Cale
Pisandro / L’Humana fragilità
Alberto Miguélez Rouco
Giove / Anfinomo
Benjamin Hulett
Nettuno / Antinoo
James Creswell
Creative Team
Conductor
Laurence Cummings
Director
John Caird
Designer
Robert Jones
Lighting Designer
Paul Pyant
Choreographer