Organization

Hong Kong Arts Festival

Chanteur

Mezzo-soprano

Furio Zanasi

La Fragilité humaine

Ténor

Ulysse

Direction d'orchestre

Philippe Pierlot

Mise en scène

William Kentridge

Décors

Adrian Kohler

Herman Sorgeloos

Video

Catherine Meyburgh

Assistant Director

Luc de Wit

Lumières

Wesley France

Kristina Hammarström

Pénélope

Jean-François Novelli

Télémaque

Pisandre

Basse

Antonio Abete

Le Temps

Neptune

Antinoüs

Soprano

Hanna Bayodi-Hirt

Minerva

Amour

Anna Zander

La Fortune

Contre-ténor

Amphinome

Mélantho

Víctor Sordo

Eurymaque

Eumée

Jupiter

Orchestra

Ricercar Consort

italien

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria -  (Le retour d'Ulysse dans sa patrie)

Hong Kong

Chine

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria

Public

Le retour d'Ulysse dans sa patrie

chinois

anglais

Valide

The battle-scarred Ulysses returns from an epic voyage to find a home he barely recognises—a place where his face is no longer known, and his waiting wife Penelope beset by those who stand to gain if he never returns. Homer’s Odyssey is a story of exile and longing, of love, deception and revenge, and it has been retold in almost every conceivable artform, from epic poetry to Hollywood movies; from experimental novels to animé. And, of course, opera. Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse is more than one of the oldest operas in the repertory. It is also a gripping human drama, told through energetic Renaissance dance music and passionate song, bristling with all the emotion, energy and wit of what was—when it was first performed in 1639—state-of-the-art blockbuster entertainment.

Now, visionary director William Kentridge, early music specialists the Ricercar Consort and vocalists specialised in baroque singing, including mezzo-soprano Kristina Hammarström and tenor Jeffrey Thompson, join South Africa’s world-famous Handspring Puppet Company to share their version of Monteverdi’s opera. In a 20th-century Johannesburg hospital, an elderly Ulysses looks back on the events of his life. Through video animation, the power of Monteverdi’s music performed live and Handspring’s extraordinary, life-size puppets, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse blurs the boundaries between human reality and artifice, memory and actuality, to create a powerful, universal and unforgettable operatic experience—like Homer’s original, a timeless epic of absence and adventure, of yearning, love and human fragility, and how fidelity and courage ultimately triumph over deception and greed.

English

Crédits de représentation (Distribution et équipe de production )

Distribution

Équipage

Ensemble