Organization

Hong Kong Arts Festival

Singer

Mezzo-soprano

Furio Zanasi

Human Frailty

Tenor

Ulysses

Conductor

Philippe Pierlot

Stage director

William Kentridge

Set designer

Adrian Kohler

Herman Sorgeloos

Video designer

Catherine Meyburgh

Assistant Director

Luc de Wit

Lighting designer

Wesley France

Kristina Hammarström

Penelope

Jean-François Novelli

Telemachus

Peisander

Bass

Antonio Abete

Time

Neptune

Antinous

Soprano

Hanna Bayodi-Hirt

Minerva

Cupid

Anna Zander

Fortune

Countertenor

Amphinomus

Melanto

Víctor Sordo

Eurimaco

Eumetes

Jupiter

Orchestra

Ricercar Consort

Italian

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria -  (The Return of Ulysses to His Homeland)

Hong Kong

China

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria

Public

The Return of Ulysses to His Homeland

Chinese

English

Approved

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.

The Return of Ulysses to His Homeland by Monteverdi, From (2023/2023), Directed by William Kentridge,, Conductor Philippe Pierlot

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Program, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues