The Return of Ulysses to His Homeland by Monteverdi, From (2021/2022), Directed by Nina Gühlstorff, Conductor Gerd Amelung, Deutsches Nationaltheater, Weimar, Germany

Penelope is in mourning - her beloved Odysseus has been missing for 20 years. Courted by power-hungry suitors, she firmly holds on to the hope that her husband will one day return. When Odysseus actually stranded on Ithaca, he faces perhaps the most difficult task after his famous odyssey - to recapture his own homeland. In doing so, he not only has to assert himself against earthly enemies, he has also become a political issue among the gods: While the offended Neptune wants to prevent Odysseus from returning home at all costs, Minerva supports the hero with cunning. On the way to the goal, those involved do not shy away from violence. Claudio Monteverdi, who wrote the »Homecoming of Odysseus« at the proud age of 73, opens his work with »human frailty« and contrasts it with time, love and fate. The gripping drama about timeless allegories and the mechanisms of power is staged by Nina Gühlstorff, who puts the "hero story" to the test. Nina Gühlstorff, who is known in Weimar for her productions of "Così fan tutte", "Otello", the "Magic Flute" and "Eugen Onegin", among other things, stages the gripping drama. In doing so, she focuses on the encounter between the aged couple. Gerd Amelung, specialist in baroque opera, has worked at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich, the Heidelberg and Koblenz theaters and the DNT, among others. The harpsichordist founded several ensembles with which he was represented at the Göttingen Handel Festival and the Thuringian Bach Weeks, among others. Gentlemen of the opera choir sing. The Staatskapelle Weimar is playing.