il ritorno d’ulisse in patria - lincoln center for the...

Alice Tully Hall, Starr TheaterAdrienne Arsht Stage

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Monteverdi: The Birth of Opera is made possible in part by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. This performance is made possible in part by the Josie Robertson Fund for Lincoln Center.

Thursday, October 19, 2017, at 7:00 pm

Pre-concert lecture by Ellen Rosand at 5:45 pm in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse

Monteverdi: The Birth of Opera

Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patriaMusic by Claudio MonteverdiLibretto by Giacomo Badoaro, after Homer

Monteverdi ChoirEnglish Baroque SoloistsSir John Eliot Gardiner, ConductorFurio Zanasi, UlisseMarianna Pizzolato, PenelopeKrystian Adam, TelemacoHana Blažíková, Minerva / FortunaGianluca Buratto, Tempo / Nettuno / AntinooMichał Czerniawski, PisandroGareth Treseder, AnfinomoZachary Wilder, EurimacoAnna Dennis, MelantoJohn Taylor Ward, GioveFrancesca Boncompagni, GiunoneRobert Burt, IroFrancisco Fernández-Rueda, EumeteCarlo Vistoli, Umana FragilitàSilvia Frigato, AmoreFrancesca Biliotti, Ericlea

John Eliot Gardiner and Elsa Rooke, Co-Directors

This performance is also part of Great Performers. (Program continued)

WhiteLightFestival.org

Support for Great Performers is provided by Rita E.and Gustave M. Hauser, Audrey Love CharitableFoundation, Great Performers Circle, Chairman’sCouncil, and Friends of Lincoln Center.

Public support is provided by the New York StateCouncil on the Arts with the support of GovernorAndrew M. Cuomo and the New York StateLegislature.

Endowment support for Symphonic Masters is provided by the Leon Levy Fund.

Endowment support is also provided by UBS.

American Airlines is the Official Airline of LincolnCenter

Nespresso is the Official Coffee of Lincoln Center

NewYork-Presbyterian is the Official Hospital ofLincoln Center

Artist Catering provided by Zabar’s and Zabars.com

The Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras would like tothank and acknowledge the Monteverdi 450thAnniversary Circle supporters for their support ofthis tour.

Regal by Meloni & Farrier Organbuilders

Baroque Keyboards

UPCOMING WHITE LIGHT FESTIVAL EVENTS:

Friday, October 20 at 7:30 pm at Gerald W. LynchTheater at John Jay College

Saturday, October 21 at 3:00 pm and 7:30 pmDancing VoicesMeredith Monk, voice, composer, and directorYoung People’s Chorus of New York CityFrancisco J. Núñez, artistic director Elizabeth Núñez, associate artistic director Katie Geissinger, voiceAllison Sniffin, voice and pianoAmerican Contemporary Music Ensemble

Wednesday–Thursday, November 1–2, at 7:30 pmin the Rose Theater

Stabat mater (New York premiere)Jessica Lang DanceJessica Lang, director and choreographerOrchestra of St. Luke’sSperanza Scappucci, conductorAndriana Chuchman, sopranoAnthony Roth Costanzo, countertenorMOZART: Divertimento in F majorPERGOLESI: Stabat mater

November 1–11 The Psalms Experience (U.S. premiere)Choir of Trinity Wall StreetNetherlands Chamber ChoirTallis ScholarsNorwegian Soloists’ Choir150 psalms. 150 composers. 4 choirs. 12 concerts.Visit PsalmsExperience.org for full concert schedule.

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In consideration of the performing artists and members of the audience, those who must leavebefore the end of the performance are asked to do so between pieces. The taking of photographsand the use of recording equipment are not allowed in the building.


The Return of Ulysses

MONTEVERDI Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, SV 325 (1640)PrologueAct IAct II (Scenes 1–3)

Intermission

Act II (Scenes 4–12)Act III

This program is approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes long, including intermission.

Please join the artists for a White Light Lounge in the Alice Tully Hall lobby followingthe performance.

Director’s Note: Celebrating Monteverdi 450By John Eliot Gardiner

Fifty years ago, Monteverdi epitomized for me all that was most exotic and alluring aboutItalian music of the early 17th century. His music spoke to audiences so directly: Itdemanded their attention through its glorious palette of colors and the passionate utter-ance in which it was couched, whether composed for the church, the chamber, or thetheater. I became hooked, much in the same way that many people (myself included) aredrawn to the works of his contemporaries: Shakespeare or John Donne, Rubens orCaravaggio—all humanists in the fullest sense of the term. These great creative artistswere of a generation that lived through those turbulent, seminal years either side of1600, a quasi-millennial moment of apocalyptic end-of-times appre hension. It was atheme that surfaces most obviously in Shakespeare’s late plays. Nor was it just the sci-entists and philosophers who contributed to the ferment of ideas that turned the intellec-tual life of Europe upside down.

Now, four centuries later, we have an opportunity to bring about a significant break-through in public awareness of Monteverdi’s part in this revolution. As good a place tostart as any would be by celebrating and recalibrating that astonishing fusion of rich musi-cal beauty with theatrical verisimilitude that is the hallmark of his operas. A fitting 450th-birthday present to Monteverdi, I believe, would then be to put the excitement, and per-haps also the trepidation, back into his music.

—Copyright © by John Eliot Gardiner. Excerpted from the essay “Monteverdi at the Crossroads,”published in the journal Early Music, xlv/3 (August 2017)

Please turn to page 30 for a full interview with John Eliot Gardiner.


SynopsisBy Ellen Rosand

PrologueHuman Frailty (representing Ulysses) istaunted by Time, Fortune, and Love, sym-bolizing the forces at work in the operathat interact to bring it to resolution, whenLove vanquishes her companions.

Act IPenelope laments Ulysses’ (Ulisse) longabsence and is comforted by her nurseEurykleia (Ericlea). Melantho (Melanto), herhandmaiden, conspires with her loverEurymachos (Eurimaco) to convince Penel -ope to choose a new husband. Ulysses awak-ens on the deserted shore of Ithaca, havingbeen deposited there by the Phaeacians.Neptune (Nettuno) protests against Ulysses’return with Jupiter (Giove) and is grantedpermission to punish the Phaeacians, whoare turned into a rock. After railing againstthe Phaeacians and the implacable gods forabandoning him, Ulysses seeks informationon his whereabouts from a shepherd boy,who turns out to be the goddess Minerva(Homer’s Athena). She pledges to aid him indestroying the suitors, who have despoiledhis kingdom, and in reconquering his wife.Minerva departs for Sparta to fetch his sonTelemachus (Telemaco), while Ulysses, dis-guised as a beggar, seeks hospitality from hisold friend, the shepherd Eumaeus (Eumete).

Melantho entreats Penelope to choose oneof the suitors to marry, but she adamantlyrefuses. Eumaeus, enjoying his simple lifeas a swineherd, is accosted by the glutto-nous parasite Iros (Iro), who attempts tosteal Eumaeus’ pigs but is chased away. AsEumaeus muses on the fate of his lost mas-ter Ulysses, an old beggar approaches andassures him that Ulysses is near, urging himto tell Penelope. Eumaeus fails to recognizehis master, but offers him shelter.

Act IITelemachus returns from Sparta onMinerva’s chariot. Eumaeus, overjoyed to

see him, introduces the old beggar.Telemachus dispatches Eumaeus to reporthis arrival to Penelope and is left alone withthe beggar, who reveals himself. Ulyssessends Telemachus to his mother, promisingto follow soon, but in disguise.

Melantho complains to Eurymachos ofPenelope’s refusal to love, but the couplesoon lose themselves in melodious love-making. The suitors beg Penelope to loveone of them, but she still refuses. Theyagree to intensify their wooing with songand dance. Penelope rejoices at Eumaeus’report of Telemachus’ arrival but cannotbelieve that Ulysses is near. Fearing thatTelemachus will quash their hopes of pos-sessing the kingdom, the suitors vow to killhim, but are terrified by the evil omen of aneagle flying overhead. They abandon theirmurderous vow and redouble their effortsto woo Penelope with gifts. Minerva revealsto Ulysses her plan for the suitors’ defeat.

Telemachus reports to Penelope on his wan-derings and Eumaeus introduces the dis-guised beggar to the court, where the suit-ors insult him. Iros challenges him to a fight,which the beggar wins, and Penelope,moved by his courage, invites him toremain. Unknowingly inspired by Minerva,she agrees to marry whichever suitor canstring Ulysses’ bow. When all three fail, thebeggar attempts the task and is successful,whereupon, accompanied by loud thunderclaps sent by Jupiter, he kills the suitors.

Act IIIIros laments the suitors’ death, whichleaves him without sustenance, and vowsto kill himself. Eumaeus, Telemachus, andEurykleia all try unsuccessfully to convincePenelope that the beggar was Ulysses indisguise. When he appears in his ownclothes and conveys one of their maritalsecrets, Penelope finally believes him andthe opera ends with a beautiful love duet.

—Copyright © 2017 by Lincoln Center for thePerforming Arts, Inc.

Notes on the ProgramBy Ellen Rosand

Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, SV 325 (1640)CLAUDIO MONTEVERDIBorn May 15, 1567, in Cremona, Italy Died November 29, 1643, in Venice

It was not until 1640, when he was nearly70, that Monteverdi produced Il ritornod’Ulisse in patria (“The Return of Ulyssesto His Homeland”), his first opera forVenice. Though he was probably the best-known composer of opera in all of Italy,having made his mark more than 30 yearsearlier with L’Orfeo and L’Arianna—writtenfor his patrons, the Gonzagas, at theMantuan court—Monteverdi had not cometo Venice as an opera composer; he hadbeen invited there in 1613 for his skill insacred music to fill the state’s highestmusical position—that of maestro di cap-pella at San Marco. And though he wrote agreat deal of dramatic music for privatepatrons while in Venice, as well as a wholeseries of madrigals for publication byVenetian printers, he seems to have beenin no hurry to respond to the new Venetiancraze for opera.

Given his inclinations, this was somewhatsurprising, for by 1640 Venice was well onits way to becoming the operatic capital ofEurope. Just three years earlier, duringCarnival of 1637, a traveling company fromRome had brought the first operatic spec-tacle to the lagoon, where it played to apaying audience at the Teatro SanCassiano. The same troupe returned thefollowing year with another opera, andwhen they returned yet again in 1639, asecond company—this one homegrown—had begun to produce operas in a secondopera house. And still Monteverdiremained operatically aloof.

To be sure, Venetian opera differed radi-cally from the kind of opera thatMonteverdi had written in the past. Instead

of celebrating a special political occasionand bringing glory to a particular rulingdynasty, like L’Orfeo, opera in Venice wasa commercial venture. It functioned withinthe social context of Carnival, the notoriousseason that since the 16th century had fea-tured a variety of theatrical entertainments,from spoken comedies and musicalpageants to jousts and bullfights. Operahad no trouble inserting itself in this envi-ronment, but commercial considerationsaffected its very nature. In order to sell tick-ets, it had to appeal to a heterogeneousaudience, and could not depend on theunlimited coffers of a ruling family; it suf-fered budgetary limitations imposed byindividual theater owners. Venetian operaswere relatively compact: Orchestras weresmall—comprising just strings and con-tinuo—choruses were virtually non-exis-tent, and plots contained elements withpopular appeal, such as comic charactersand rapid-fire dialogue.

Was Monteverdi, the city’s leading churchmusician who had recently taken holyorders, reluctant to express overt interestin the commercial theater? Or might hisadvanced age have discouraged him fromundertaking such a large-scale project?Whatever the reasons, Monteverdi evi-dently required special enticement. Thiswas provided by his friend GiacomoBadoaro, the author of Il ritorno d’Ulisse,who claimed, in a letter addressed “to themost illustrious and revered Signor ClaudioMonteverdi, Great Master of Music,” thathe had written his libretto for the expresspurpose of luring the composer out of oper-atic retirement—as he put it, “to stimulatethe imagination of Your Lordship to makeknown to this city that in warming theaffections there is a great differencebetween a real sun and a painted one.” Hewas referring perhaps to the composer’slesser-known predecessors on the Venetianstage and certainly to Monteverdi’s well-known ability to move audiences with hisexpressive portrayal of human emotion.


Badoaro produced a libretto eminentlyworthy of his friend. Il ritorno d’Ulissetraces the memorable second half ofHomer’s Odyssey, the final leg of thehero’s tortuous return to his homeland andto his long-suffering wife, Penelope.Drawing its characters essentially fromHomer, it features a varied cast, divine andhuman, representing a variety of socialclasses, from the noblest royalty to thelowest beggar. And Monteverdi respondswith his characteristic ability to penetratehuman psychology. His musical drama pre-sents a full range of human emotions andexperience—from hedonistic sensual pas-sion to chaste marital love, from ironicmanipulation and violent confrontations tothe most tender of reconciliations. Deepfeelings of self-doubt and self-deception,anger, indecision, and ambivalence areresolved in the reuniting of friend withfriend, father with son, husband with wife.

Badoaro’s ploy evidently worked—Il ritornod’Ulisse was a great success. Performedat the newest and grandest theater in thecity, SS Giovanni e Paolo, during Carnival, itran for ten performances and, later thesame year, was taken on the road toBologna. It was even revived in Venice thefollowing year. Its success must havehelped to overcome Monteverdi’s operaticreticence, for he produced two moreoperas in the years before his death in1643: Le nozze di Enea e Lavinia (1641)and his final masterpiece, L’incoronazionedi Poppea (1643).

Monteverdi’s desire to portray the depthsand varieties of human passion was a goalthat determined the entire course of his

long career as a musical dramatist. Hefound his inspiration for achieving that goalin the text. By inventing the means totranslate or transform verbal meaning intomusical imagery, Monteverdi was able torecreate feelings that words could onlysuggest. Although his aims are evident inhis madrigals and sacred music as well, itis in his late operas that they find theirfullest realization.

In these works, designed for the publictheater, Monteverdi produced the firstgreat masterpieces of the operatic genre.With the classical inevitability of its narra-tive drive and its deeply gratifying cathar-tic effect, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria fully realizes the ambitious goal of the inventorsof opera. More than any earlier opera—andmost later ones as well—it resurrects thedramatic power of ancient tragedy. Alongwith its better-known successor, L’incoro -nazione di Poppea, it deserves a perma-nent place in the operatic repertory.

Ellen Rosand, professor of music emeritusat Yale University, founded the YaleBaroque Opera Project, which has pre-sented a 17th-century Venetian operaevery spring for the past decade. She isthe author of Opera in Seventeenth-Century Venice (1991) and Monteverdi’sLast Operas (2007), and is the general edi-tor of Cavalli Opere, a critical edition of theoperas of Francesco Cavalli being pub-lished by Baerenreiter Verlag.

—Copyright © 2017 by Lincoln Center for thePerforming Arts, Inc.

For poetry comments and suggestions, please writeto [email protected].

The loud-mouthed dogs that saw Ulysses comeRan toward him, fiercely baying. He sat downAt once, through caution, letting fall his staffUpon the ground, and would have suffered thereUnseemly harm, within his own domain,But then the swineherd, following with quick steps,Rushed through the vestibule, and dropped the hide.He chid the dogs and, pelting them with stones,Drave them asunder, and addressed the king:—“O aged man, the mastiffs of the lodge

Had almost torn thee, and thou wouldst have castBitter reproach upon me. Other griefsAnd miseries the gods have made my lot.Here sorrowfully sitting I lamentA godlike master, and for others tendHis fatling swine; while, haply hungeringFor bread, he wanders among alien menIn other kingdoms, if indeed he livesAnd looks upon the sun. But follow me,And come into the house, that there, refreshedWith food and wine, old man, thou mayst declareWhence thou dost come and what thou hast endured.”

—Translated by W. C. Bryant

Illumination

The Return of Ulysses(from Homer’s The Odyssey, Book XIII)


Meet the Artists

Founder and artistic director of theMonteverdi Choir, the English BaroqueSoloists, and the Orchestre Révolutionnaireet Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner is one ofthe most versatile conductors of our time.He appears regularly with leading sym-phony orchestras such as the London Sym -phony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestraof Leipzig, Royal Concertgebouw, Bayer -ischer Rundfunk, and at the Royal OperaHouse, Covent Garden. Formerly artisticdirector of the Opéra de Lyon (1983–88)and founding music director of its orches-tra, his opera projects included Gluck’sOrphée and Alceste, Verdi’s Falstaff, andBerlioz’s Les Troyens at the Théâtre duChâtelet in Paris. At Opéra Comique heconducted new productions that includedCarmen, Pelléas et Mélisande, andWeber/Berlioz’s Le Freischütz.

Acknowledged as a key figure in the earlymusic revival of the past five decades, Mr.Gardiner has led his own ensembles in anumber of large-scale tours, including ayear-long Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000to celebrate the 250th year of the com-poser’s death. This past year he has led aseven-month tour celebrating the 450thanniversary of Claudio Monteverdi’s birth,culminating in these performances of thecomposer’s three surviving operas at AliceTully Hall.

The extent of Mr. Gardiner’s repertoire isillustrated by over 250 recordings for majorrecord companies and by numerous interna-tional awards including Gramophone’s SpecialAchievement Award for live recordings of

Bach’s complete church cantatas on thelabel Soli Deo Gloria. In recognition of hiswork, Mr. Gardiner has received severalinternational prizes and honorary doctor-ates from the University of Cambridge,University of Lyon, New England Con -servatory of Music, University of Pavia,and the University of St. Andrews. He is anhonorary member of the Royal Academy ofMusic, and an honorary fellow of King’sCollege, London, of the British Academy,and of King’s College, Cambridge. In 2008Mr. Gardiner received the prestigious RoyalAcademy of Music Bach Prize. He wasmade Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in2011 and was given the Order of Merit ofthe Federal Republic of Germany in 2005. Inthe U.K., he was made a Commander of theBritish Empire in 1990 and awarded aknighthood for his services to music in the1998 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

In 2013, following the publication of hislong-awaited book on Bach, Music in theCastle of Heaven (Allen Lane), he won theCritics’ Circle’s Outstanding Musicianaward. In 2014 Mr. Gardiner became thefirst ever President of the Bach Archive inLeipzig. He became the inaugural Chris -toph Wolff Distinguished Visiting Scholarat Harvard University in 2014–15 and wasrecently awarded the Amsterdam Con cert -gebouw Prize.

Baritone Furio Zanasi (Ulisse) began hismusical activity devoting himself to earlymusic, with a repertoire spanning madri-gals and oratorios to cantatas and Baroqueopera. He has appeared at major operahouses and at prestigious festivals in Italyas well as all over Europe, the U.S., andJapan, singing under renowned conduc-

Furio Zanasi

John EliotGardinerS

IM CANETT

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tors. His operatic roles have included Orfeoin Monteverdi’s opera, recorded by Naive,in which he appeared on tour as well as ina new production at Den Norske Opera &Ballett in Oslo. Mr. Zanasi has also per-formed Ulisse in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patriaat La Scala in Milan, where he took part inthe Monteverdi trilogy directed by RobertWilson, under the baton of RinaldoAlessandrini. Additionally, Mr. Zanasi hasrecorded more than 60 CDs for variousrecord labels as well as for many of themain European radio stations.

Mezzo-soprano Marianna Pizzolato(Penelope) made her debut at the RossiniOpera Festival with Il viaggio a Reims,becoming an acclaimed interpreter of themain Rossini roles as well as for Baroqueand 18th-century repertoire. Ms. Pizzolatoregularly sings at prestigious venues andfestivals worldwide, including Royal OperaHouse, Covent Garden, Opéra National deParis, Tokyo Nikikai Opera Theatre,Belcanto Opera Festival, Teatro de laMaestranza, Gran Teatre del Liceu, OpéraRoyal de Wallonie, Teatro di San Carlo, andTeatro Massimo, working with conductorssuch as Bruno Campanella, Daniele Gatti,Riccardo Muti, Antonio Pappano, andAlberto Zedda.

Her 2016–17 season engagementsincluded Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony atthe Menuhin Festival Gstaad and inWrocław (concert and recording) withKammerorchester Basel under GiovanniAntonini; Tancredi in Bremen (concert ver-sion) with Accademia Bizantina and OttavioDantone; Rossini’s Stabat Mater inEdinburgh with Accademia Nazionale diSanta Cecilia under Antonio Pappano, andat the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston

Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit;Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la merwith the Bremen Philharmoniker; Il viaggioa Reims at Bolshoi Theatre; La donna dellago in Liège under Michele Mariotti;Falstaff in Madrid; as well as recitals inRouen. Last season, Ms. Pizzolato madeher Metropolitan Opera debut with her per-formance of Hedwige in Guillaume Tell.This season, she joins John Eliot Gardinerin the worldwide tour of Il ritorno di Ulissein patria and L’incoron azione di Poppea inhonor of the 450th anniversary ofMonteverdi’s birth. Ms. Pizzolato hasrecorded for EMI, Virgin Classics, Dynamic,Naïve/Opus 111, Naxos, and Opera Rara.

Polish tenor Krystian Adam (Telemaco)studied at the Karol Lipiński Academy ofMusic in Wrocław and at the Conservatoriodi Musica Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. In 2007he made his debut at La Scala in the worldpremiere of Fabio Vacchi’s Teneke. Othercredits include Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaroand Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur at RoyalOpera House, Covent Garden, andMozart’s Idomeneo at Teatro La Fenice inVenice. In addition, Riccardo Chaillyengaged him for performances of Puccini’sLa fanciulla del West at Teatro Alla Scala,and Claudio Abbado invited him to appearin concerts with the Orchestra Mozart.

Mr. Adam is also intensively devoted to themusic of the 17th and 18th centuries, andhas worked in historically-informed practicewith such conductors as Giovanni Antonini,Rinaldo Alessandrini, Ottavio Dantone,Fabio Biondi, Jean-Christophe Spinosi,Václav Luks, and Teodor Currentzis. He hasalso collaborated with John Eliot Gardinerin touring performances of Monteverdi’sVespers and L’Orfeo.

Krystian Adam

MariannaPizzolato


Soprano Hana Blažíková (Minerva/Fortuna)specializes in the interpretation of Baroque,Renaissance, and medieval music, perform-ing with ensembles and orchestras aroundthe world, including Collegium Vocale Gent,Bach Collegium Japan, Sette Voci,Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir,L’Arpeggiata, Gli Angeli Genève, Neder -landse Bachvereniging, Tafelmusik, Colle -gium 1704, Collegium Marianum, MusicaFlorea, and L’Armonia Sonora, among oth-ers. She has performed at many world festi-vals, including Edinburgh InternationalFestival, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, TageAlter Musik Regensburg, Resonanzen,Festival de Sablé, Hong Kong Arts Festival,Chopin i jego Europa, Bachfest Leipzig, andFestival de Saintes.

In 2010 and 2013, Ms. Blažíková took part ina highly acclaimed world tour of Bach’s St.Matthew Passion under the direction ofPhilippe Herreweghe, and in 2011 made herCarnegie Hall debut performing withMasaaki Suzuki’s Bach Collegium Japan.Other performance highlights include Bach’sSt. John Passion with the Boston Sym -phony Orchestra (2011) and the stage pro-duction Orfeo Chamán with L’Arpeggiata in Bogota (2014). Ms. Blažíková also appearson more than 30 CDs, including a well-known series of Bach cantatas with BachCollegium Japan.

Born in Prague, Ms. Blažíková sang in thechildren’s choir Radost Praha and playedthe violin before turning to solo singing. In2002 she graduated from the PragueConservatory under the tutelage of JiříKotouč, and later undertook further studywith Poppy Holden, Peter Kooij, MonikaMauch, and Howard Crook. Ms. Blažíkováadditionally presents concerts in which she

accompanies herself on Gothic andRomanesque harp and is also a member ofTiburtina Ensemble, a vocal ensemble thatspecializes in Gregorian chant and earlymedieval polyphony.

With a noble and rounded voice, GianlucaBuratto (Tempo/Nettuno/Antinoo) is rapidlyestablishing himself as one of the most ver-satile basses of his generation. His recentengagements include performances inMonteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Vespers on tour inthe U.S., as well as at Wigmore Hall and inVersailles under the baton of John EliotGardiner; Guglielmo Ratcliff at the WexfordFestival Opera; Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte inLiège; and a solo recital at Wigmore Hall.Future engagements include I due Foscari inAmsterdam, Faccio’s Amleto and Tur andotat the Bregenzer Festspiele, Semiramide inLondon for Opera Rara, Berlioz’s Roméo etJuliette in Beirut, Le nozze di Figaro inZurich, and Don Giovanni in Bilbao.

Mr. Buratto’s other recent highlights includeBach’s B-minor Mass with Jordi Savall inMadrid and Barcelona; both Mozart’s andJommelli’s Betulia liberata with RiccardoMuti in Salzburg and Ravenna, and inWrocław under Corrado Rovaris; Bach’s St.John Passion with Eduardo López Banzo inSpain and Germany; Macbeth at theSalzburg Festival, Rome, and Chicago withRiccardo Muti, and at La Scala; Le nozze diFigaro in Barcelona with ChristopheRousset; and La bohème with RiccardoChailly. He has also performed in Monte -verdi’s L’Orfeo with Christophe Roussetand Les Talens Lyriques in Nancy and Paris;La bohème in Rome, Palermo, andAmsterdam; I Puritani in Florence; Rigolettoat the Macerata Opera Festival; and Verdi’sRequiem in Manchester under Mark Elder.

Hana Blažíková

Gianluca Buratto

Polish countertenor Michał Czerniawski(Pisandro) studied singing at the StanislawMoniuszko Music Academy in Gdansk andthe Guildhall School of Music and Drama inLondon. He has worked extensively withsuch performers and conductors asMasaaki Suzuki, Mark Padmore (AldeburghMusic), and William Christie (Le Jardin desVoix, on world tour, and for Les ArtsFlorissants’ 30th anniversary concert atOpéra Comique).

Mr. Czerniawski’s concert repertoireincludes Handel’s Messiah and Solomonwith Solomon’s Knot; Pergolesi’s Stabatmater with Krákow Chamber Opera; SalveRegina at the London Handel Festival; andScarlatti’s Il primo omicidio at theInternational Wratislavia Cantans Festival.His opera engagements have includedCorrindo in Cesti’s L’Orontea atInnsbrucker Festwochen der alten Musikand Wigmore Hall with David Bates and LaNuova Musica; Purcell’s The Fairy Queen atTeatr Wielki w Poznaniu and Opera naZamku w Szczecin; Handel’s Acis andGalatea and Gassmann’s L’Opera Seriawith the New European Opera; Peri’sEuridice with the British Youth Opera;Steffani’s Orlando Generoso at the BarberInstitute of Fine Arts at the University ofBirmingham; and The Fairy Queen,Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea,Cavalli’s Giasone, and Handel’s Agrippinawith the English Touring Opera. Futureengagements include performances atGöttingen International Handel Festival andat Bachfest Leipzig.

Welsh tenor Gareth Treseder (Anfinomo)became an apprentice for John EliotGardiner’s Monteverdi Choir upon graduat-ing from the University of Bristol and theRoyal Welsh College of Music & Drama.Solo engagements during his apprentice-ship included Bach’s Cantatas BWV 61 andBWV 70 at the Cité de la musique in Paris,Berlin’s Philhar monie, and at London’sCadogan Hall. Mr. Treseder has since per-formed as a concert soloist in the Soli DeoGloria (SDG) recordings Live at MiltonCourt: Handel Bach Scarlatti and J.S. Bach:Motets. He also performed the role of theShepherd in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rexalongside the London SymphonyOrchestra at the Bar bican and for theorchestra’s CD release.

Recent solo performances include Handel’sDixit Dominus for the Prince of Wales atBuckingham Palace; Monteverdi’s Vespersat Carnegie Hall, King’s College,Cambridge, and the Château de Versailles;Mozart’s Requiem at Royal Albert Hall;Handel’s Messiah at Colston Hall (Bristol);Men delssohn’s Elijah at St. John’s SmithSquare (London); Schumann’s Paradies unddie Peri as the Jüngling at Gewandhaus(Leipzig); Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater atCologne’s Philharmonie and Vienna’sKonzerthaus; Elgar’s The Dream ofGerontius at Trinity College, Cambridge;Bach’s Cantata BWV 198, “Trauer Ode,” atDuomo di Pisa; and Orff’s Carmina Buranaat the Gloucester Cathedral.

Mr. Treseder also composes sacred choralworks, which have been performed andrecorded across the U.K., North America,and Australia. A Song Was Heard at Christ -mas and Blessed be that Maid Marie were

MichałCzerniawski Gareth Treseder


recently recorded by the BBC Singers, andseveral works have since been publishedby Boosey & Hawkes.

A former member of William Christie’s LeJardin des Voix, tenor Zachary Wilder(Eurimaco) has performed throughoutEurope and the U.S. with groups such asLes Arts Florissants, Collegium VocaleGent, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, SanAntonio Symphony, Cappella Mediter -ranea, American Bach Soloists, and EarlyOpera Company, with appearances at theBoston Early Music Festival and Festivald’Aix-en-Provence.

A keen performer of Baroque repertoire,Mr. Wilder has performed Un sylphe inRameau’s Zaïs in France and Amsterdamwith Les Talens Lyriques (CD released onAparté); Tirsi in Gagliano’s La Dafne inBruges with Leonardo García Alarcón andCappella Mediterranea; and St. JohnPassion (Brussels, Barcelona, Seville) withPhilippe Herreweghe. Other performancehighlights have included Damon in Acis andGalatea with the American Bach Soloists;Septimius in Handel’s Theodora with EarlyMusic Vancouver; Haydn’s Die sieben let-zten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuzewith Orchestre de Chambre de Paris underLeonardo García Alarcón; Bach’s Mass in Bminor with the Grand Rapids Symphony;and Lucano in L’incoronazione di Poppeaand Telemaco in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria,both for the Boston Early Music Festival.

In 2016 Mr. Wilder debuted with the SanFrancisco Symphony performing Handel’sMessiah. Other recent engagementsinclude Everardo in Zingarelli’s Giulietta eRomeo with Theater und OrchesterHeidelberg; Mozart’s Requiem at St. Paul’s

Cathedral under John Rutter; performancesand a recording of Bach’s Magnificat withArion Baroque Orchestra in Montreal;Trasimede and L’Interesse in Cavalli’sL’Oristeo in Marseille; Euryale in Lully’sPersée in Paris and Versailles (alsorecorded); Beethoven’s Ninth Symphonywith the Mercury Orchestra in Houston;and Zadok in Handel’s Solomon in Hanover.

Soprano Anna Dennis (Melanto) studied atthe Royal Academy of Music with NoelleBarker. Her concert performances haveincluded Britten’s War Requiem at theBerlin Philharmonie, Thomas Adès’s LifeStory accompanied by the composer atLincoln Center’s White Light Festival, a pro-gram of Russian operatic arias withPhilharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale(San Francisco), Orff’s Carmina Buranawith the Orquestra Gulbenkian (Lisbon),Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with theAustralian Chamber Orchestra at theSydney Opera House, and Haydn’s DieSchöpfung with Orchestra EnsembleKanazawa (Japan). Ms. Dennis’s BBCProms appearances include performanceswith the City of Birmingham SymphonyOrchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra,Britten Sinfonia, and the Orchestra of theAge of Enlightenment.

In 2016 Ms. Dennis performed Rosmene inHandel’s Imeneo at the InternationaleHändel-Festspiele Göttingen; Despina at theLichfield Festival; Iphigénie en Tauride at theInternationale Gluck Opern Festspiele inNuremberg; and Pergolesi’s Stabat materwith the Orquestra Gulbenkian in Lisbon.Other recent operatic roles include Paride inGluck’s Paride ed Elena (Nuremberg OperaHouse); Katherine Dee in Damon Albarn’s DrDee (English National Opera); Emira in

Zachary Wilder

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Handel’s Siroe with Laurence Cummings(Internationale Händel-Festspiele Göttingen);Bersi in Andrea Chénier (Opera North); andIlia in Mozart’s Idomeneo, directed byGraham Vick (Birmingham Opera Com -pany). A keen interpreter of contemporarymusic, Ms. Dennis has created roles in pre-mieres of Francisco Coll’s Café Kafka (RoyalOpera House, Opera North), JonathanDove’s The Walk From The Garden(Salisbury Festival), Edward Rushton’s TheShops (Bregenz Festspiele), Will Tuckett’sPleasure’s Progress (Royal Opera House),and Yannis Kyriakides’s An Ocean of Rain(Aldeburgh Festival).

Ms. Dennis’s recordings include Rameau’sAnacréon of 1754 with the Orchestra ofthe Age Enlightenment, Handel’s Siroe, redi Persia and Joshua with LaurenceCummings and FestspielOrchesterGöttingen, and a CD of Russian composerElena Langer’s chamber works, Landscapewith Three People, on Harmonia Mundi.

Baritone John Taylor Ward (Giove) is highlyacclaimed for his dynamic expressivenessand tone, alongside an impressive sense ofclarity and precision. This season, he hasappeared as a principal artist on five conti-nents, joining ensembles such as Les ArtsFlorissants (as a laureate of Le Jardin desVoix), Collegium Vocale Ghent, the BostonCamerata, and the Grammy Award–win-ning ensemble Roomful of Teeth. Otherrecent credits include several roles in theBoston Early Music Festival’s cycle ofMonteverdi operas, the premiere staging ofOrfeo Chamán with L’Arpeggiata, and per-formances of Vivier’s Kopernikus and KaijaSaariaho’s La Passion de Simone under thedirection of Peter Sellars.

Mr. Taylor is a graduate of the EastmanSchool of Music and holds two advanceddegrees from Yale University. He is a recip-ient of the Yale School of Music AlumniAssociation Prize (2013), the Harriet HaleWoolley Scholarship (2013), the CarmelBach Festival’s Virginia Best Adams VocalMaster Class Fellowship (2014), and theHelpmann Award for Best ChamberEnsemble Concert (Australia, 2015). He isthe co-founder and associate artistic direc-tor of the Lakes Area Music Festival inMinnesota, as well as a founding coremember of Cantata Profana, which wasrecognized with Chamber Music America’s2015 award for Adventurous Programming.

Soprano Francesca Boncompagni (Giunone)works with prestigious Baroque ensemblessuch as Les Arts Florissants, CollegiumVocale Gent, Modo Antiquo, La Venexiana,Accademia Bizantina, De Labyrintho, andCappella della Pietà dei Turchini, and hasbeen a permanent member of the ensem-ble RossoPorpora since 2013. She hasworked with such conductors as ClaudioCavina, Federico Maria Sardelli, WalterTestolin, Antonio Florio, Ottavio Dantone,Paul Agnew, William Christie, PhilippeHerreweghe, and Frans Brűggen, and hassung in distinguished concert halls thatinclude Palazzetto Bru Zane (Venice),Tonhalle Zurich, Cité de la Musique,Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Alte Oper(Frankfurt), Tokyo Bunka Kaikan and TokyoOpera City Concert Hall, and Berlin’sPhilharmonie. Recent highlights include aproduction of Monteverdi’s Orfeo and IlVespro della Beata Vergine conducted byJohn Eliot Gardiner, with performances inthe U.S., London, and Versailles, as well asthe current tour celebrating the 450thanniversary of Monteverdi’s birth.

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Ms. Boncompagni has recorded forPentatone, Phi, Virgin Classics, BrilliantClassics, France Musique, Stradivarius, andDeutsche Harmonia Mundi. Born in Arezzo,Italy, she studied violin, graduating with dis-tinction in 2005 from the Istituto Superioredi Studi Musicali “Rinaldo Franci” in Siena,and the same year, began her formal vocaltraining with Donatella Debolini. In 2007 Ms.Boncompagni attended William Christie’s LeJardin des Voix academy for young singers,and took part in the documentary BaroqueAcadémie, produced and broadcast byFrance 3. In 2008 she won first prize in theBaroque singing competition F. Provenzalein Naples. Ms. Boncompagni now attendsthe Advanced Vocal Ensemble Studies pro-gram with Evelyn Tubb and Anthony Rooleyat the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel.

Tenor Robert Burt (Iro) studied at theGuildhall School of Music and Drama. Sincethen, his career has taken him to operahouses and concert halls around the world.Mr. Burt is most associated with the role ofIro in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse inpatria, which he has sung for Opera Northand Deutsche Oper am Rhein‚ and atChicago Opera Theater‚ Grand Théâtre deGenève‚ Teatro Real (Madrid), Festivald’Aix-en-Provence, and on DVD conductedby William Christie. He has also workedwith Christie on Cesti’s Il Tito (Strasbourg)and Purcell’s Fairy Queen (Glyndebourne).

Recent and future plans include DanceMaster in Manon Lescaut (Royal OperaHouse); Pirelli in Sweeney Todd (AdelphiTheatre‚ London); Mopsa and Flute in TheFairy Queen under Laurence Cummings(Glyndebourne); Arnalta in L’incoronazionedi Poppea (Montpellier); Evangelist in St.

John Passion and Beadle in Sweeney Todd(Nederlandse Reisopera); Red Queen inAlice in Wonderland‚ Dr. Blind in DieFledermaus, Goro in Madama Butterfly,and Biaso in I Gioielli della Madonna (OperaHolland Park).

Further engagements include Pirelli(Chichester Festival Theatre); Evangelist ina staged St. John Passion (NederlandseReisopera); Kittywake and Landlord in Luddand Isis (Royal Opera House); Arnalta inMadrid; Mopsa and Flute in The FairyQueen with William Christie and Les ArtsFlorissants (Paris‚ Caen, and New York);King Bobeche in Bluebeard (Grange ParkOpera); Snout in A Midsummer Night’sDream (English National Opera); L’Incredi -bile in Andrea Chénier‚ Fiorello in Il barbieredi Siviglia, and Hadji in Lakmé (OperaHolland Park); as well as the world pre-mieres of Family Matters for Tête à Têteand Stephen Barlow’s King‚ as Henry II‚ inCanterbury Cathedral.

Tenor Francisco Fernández-Rueda (Eumete)has worked with such conductors as JohnEliot Gardiner, William Christie, Jordi Savall,Fabio Biondi, Enrico Onofri, Raphaël Pichon,Konrad Junghänel, Alexis Kossenko, Wolf -gang Katschner, Alessandro Quarta, andRyan Brown, and with orchestras includingLes Arts Florissants, Concerto Köln, EuropaGalante, Concertgebouw Kamerorkest, LesAmbassadeurs, Capella Reial de Catalunya,Ensemble Pygmalion, and PhilharmonischeOrchester Heidelberg. He has appeared insuch venues as Opéra Comique de Paris,Cité de la musique, Opéra Royal deVersailles, Opéra de Bordeaux, TheaterWinterthur, Festspiel haus Baden-Baden,BAM, and the Kennedy Center.

Robert Burt

FranciscoFernández-Rueda

In the operatic field, Mr. Fernández-Ruedahas performed Don Ottavio in Mozart’sDon Giovanni, Bajazet in Handel’s Tam -erlano, Orfeo in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo,Narete in Hasse’s Leucippo, Toante inTraetta’s Ifigenia in Tauride, Clotarco inHaydn’s Armida, and Sir Hervey inDonizetti’s Anna Bolena. He has taken partin the legendary recreation of Lully’s Atyswith William Christie and Les ArtsFlorissants. In the oratorio field, Mr.Fernández-Rueda has sung Mozart’sRequiem and Krönungs messe; Handel’sMessiah; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion,Mass in B minor, and Weihnacht sora -torium; Monteverdi’s Vespro della BeataVergine; and C.P.E. Bach’s Magnificat.

Born in Seville, Mr. Fernández-Rueda holdsa degree in French studies from theUniversity of Seville. He studied singing atthe Escola Superior de Música deCatalunya in Barcelona. In 2011 Mr.Fernández-Rueda took part in the fifth edi-tion of Les Arts Florissants’ Jardin desVoix. He has recorded for such labels asFra Musica, Accent, Naxos, and MercuryRecords, and for radio stations such asWDR, BR Klassik, Radio Nacional deEspaña (RNE), and BBC Radio.

After studying classical guitar and piano,countertenor Carlo Vistoli (Umana Fragilità)began his vocal training in 2005 withWilliam Matteuzzi and Sonia Prina. He is agraduate of the Conserva torio FrescobaldiFerrara (Renaissance and Baroque singing)and of Alma Mater Studiorum at theUniversity of Bologna (cultural heritage).He made his stage debut in 2012–13 asSorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas inCesena and Ravenna, Italy, and later

appeared at Teatro Comunale di Bolognaas Licida in Mysliveček’s L’Olimpiade.

Mr. Vistoli has won several prestigiousawards in international competitions suchas the fourth International Competition“Città di Bologna” in 2012, and in theBaroque category of the fifth RenataTebaldi International Voice Competition in2013. The 2016–17 season saw hisappearance in concerts with Le Jardin desVoix, performances of Monteverdi’sL’Orfeo with Les Arts Florissants, alongwith his debut at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in Cavalli’s Erismena. Opera per-formances include the title role of Handel’sTamerlano with Les Ambassadeurs andAlexis Kossenko; Purcell’s King Arthur inRome and Bologna; Piritoo in Elena byCavalli, conducted by Garcia Alarcon in aFestival d’Aix-en-Provence production; andTolomeo in Handel’s Giulio Cesare(Shanghai) with Opera Fuoco.

Mr. Vistoli has been a member of Le Jardindes Voix conducted by William Christie,with whom he toured France, Australia,and Asia, and performed in Paris, Moscow,New York, and at the Lucerne Festival. In2015 he took part in the world premiere ofL’Amore che move il sole by AdrianoGuarnieri at the Ravenna Festival.

Winner of the 2007 Francesco ProvenzaleInternational Baroque Singing Competitionin Naples, soprano Silvia Frigato (Amore)continues to perform at numerous presti-gious concert venues and festivals, collab-orating with such artists as RinaldoAlessandrini, Fabio Biondi, GianlucaCapuano, Claudio Cavina, Ottavio Dantone,Antonio Florio, John Eliot Gardiner,

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Lorenzo Ghielmi, Philippe Herreweghe,Sigiswald Kuijken, Stefano Montanari, andFederico Maria Sardelli.

Ms. Frigato recently starred in Monte -verdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine with theMonteverdi Choir and Gardiner,L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Teatro allaScala (Milan), and Jommelli’s L’isola disabi-tata at Teatro San Carlo (Naples), bothunder Rinaldo Alessandrini. After her debutat Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with Gluck’sOrfeo ed Euridice (2014), she returned asYniold in Daniele Abbado’s new productionof Pélleas et Mélisande under the baton ofDaniele Gatti (2015). In addition, Ms.Frigato was chosen by Gardiner for the firstand second editions of Accademia Monte -verdiana (Sarteano, Italy), where she per-formed in the opening concert of theIncontri in Terra di Siena festival.

Future plans include Vagaus in Juditha tri-umphans at the Teatro Comunale (Ferrara,Italy); Monteverdi’s Vespro della BeataVergine with Ensemble Matheus and Jean-Christophe Spinosi on tour in France;Biber’s Missa Salisburgensiswith Collegium1704 and Václav Luks in Salzburg; andMartin’s Mirandolina (title role) and La son-nambula (Lisa) at Teatro La Fenice in Venice.Ms. Frigato has sung and recorded unpub-lished music by Manna and Feo with theFondazione Pietà de’ Turchini in Naples forBrilliant Classics.

Contralto Francesca Biliotti (Ericlea) hasreceived numerous awards and recognitionfor her singing, including first prize at theCamera Barocco section of the Opera Rintavocal competition (2009). She was also afinalist at the fifth International Competition

“Città di Bologna,” and in 2012 was namedwinner of the Francesco Albanese compe-tition, finalist of the la Citta Sonora compe-tition in Milan, and best mezzo-soprano atthe Franca Mattiucci international competi-tion in Asti, Italy. In 2013 Ms. Biliotti tooksecond place at the 67th EuropeanCommunity competition for young operasingers in Spoleto, where she trained withLella Cuberli and Renato Bruson; per-formed in several concerts; and sang thelead role in Mario Guido Scappucci’s con-temporary opera Euridice.

Born in Venice, Ms. Biliotti graduated fromthe Università Luigi Bocconi in Milan in2004. Recent performances include arecital of cantatas by Vivaldi and Marcello(Tuscia Operafestival); Maddalena in Verdi’sRigoletto (Brescia, Italy); soloist in Vivaldi’sDixit Dominus with the Moscow SoloistsChamber Orchestra under the baton of YuriBashmet (International Music Festival inYaroslavl, Russia); Isabella in Rossini’sL’italiana in Algeri and Angelina in LaCenerentola (Teatro Nuovo Turino); and thetitle role in Gluck’s Orfeo (Teatro Olimpico,Vicenza, Italy). She has also performed as asoloist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion,Mozart’s Requiem, and Handel’s Messiah.

Elsa RookeElsa Rooke (co-director) has worked as astage manager, assistant director, dra-maturge, and director throughout Europe.Trained by drama coach Alain Garichot, shehas taught acting to young singers, includ-ing William Christie’s Académie des ArtsFlorissants, and was appointed director ofone of France’s major drama schools (Saint-Étienne). A long-term collaborator withAdrian Noble, she has revived many operaproductions for him over the past 15 years.

Ms. Rooke directed the European pre-mieres of both Dominick Argento’sPostcard from Morocco and Conrad Susaand Anne Sexton’s Transformations for theOpéra de Lausanne. Other credits as stage

Francesca Biliotti

director include productions for the OpéraNational de Bordeaux, Opéra National deLyon, Théâtre des Champs Élysées, andGrand Théâtre de Genève (The Turn of theScrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,Cener entola, Idomeneo, Hansel und Gretel,Dialogues des Carmélites, Comédie sur lePont). More recently, Ms. Rooke wrote thelibretto (in English, French, and German) fora new opera based on the life and works ofAnnemarie Schwarzenbach: Le ruisseaunoir, composed by Guy-François Leuen -berger. The production, which she alsodirected, was commissioned by the HauteÉcole de Musique de Genève and con-ducted by Michael Wendeberg (Théâtre duGrütli, Geneva). She also worked in partner-ship with Gwenaël Morin on PeterHandke’s Introspection (Théâtre de laBastille, Paris), and on four plays by RainerWerner Fassbinder in which she also per-formed (Théâtre du Point du Jour, Lyon).

Born in Paris, Ms. Rooke completed herPhD in literature and music on 20th-cen-tury opera at the Sorbonne. Invited to pub-lish papers and give talks on this subject,she has also translated novels, essays,and opera librettos from English and Italianinto French.

Monteverdi ChoirFounded by John Eliot Gardiner as part ofthe breakaway period instrument move-ment of the 1960s, the Monteverdi Choirhas always focused on bringing a new per-spective to its repertoire. With a combina-tion of consummate choral technique andhistorically-informed performance practice,the choir has been consistently acclaimedover the past 50 years as one of the bestchoirs in the world.

Among a number of trailblazing tours wasthe Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, dur-ing which the choir performed all 198 ofBach’s sacred cantatas in more than 60churches throughout Europe and America.The entire project, recorded by the com-pany’s record label Soli Deo Gloria, was

critically hailed. The Monteverdi Choir hasover 150 recordings to its name and haswon numerous prizes.

The choir is also committed to trainingfuture generations of singers through theMonteverdi Apprentices Programme.Many apprentices go on to become fullmembers of the choir, and former choirmembers have also gone on to enjoy suc-cessful solo careers.

Last season the choir took part in a varietyof projects across different repertoires,from an extensive tour of Bach’s St.Matthew Passion (performed from mem-ory) with the English Baroque Soloists, toBerlioz’s Roméo et Juliette at the BBCProms, to the Festival Berlioz with theOrchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.Under the direction of Gardiner, the choiralso collaborated with both the LondonSymphony Orchestra on Mendelssohn’sEin Sommernachtsrtaum and the ZurichTonhalle Orchestra on Janáček’s GlagoliticMass. The Monteverdi Choir has also par-ticipated in several staged opera produc-tions, including Le Freischütz (2010) andCarmen (2009) at the Opéra Comique inParis, and Les Troyens at the Théâtre duChâtelet. Most recently, the choir per-formed Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice at theRoyal Opera House, Covent Garden, work-ing in collaboration with the HofeshShechter Dance Company.

English Baroque SoloistsThe English Baroque Soloists have longbeen established as one of the world’sleading period instrument orchestras.Throughout their repertoire, ranging fromMonteverdi to Mozart and Haydn, they areequally at home in chamber, symphonic,and operatic performances, and the dis-tinctive sound of their warm and incisiveplaying is instantly recognizable.

The ensemble has performed at many ofthe world’s most prestigious venues, includ-ing La Scala in Milan, the Concertgebouw

in Amsterdam, and the Sydney OperaHouse. During the 1990s, the EnglishBaroque Soloists performed Mozart’sseven mature operas and recorded all ofhis piano concertos and mature sym-phonies. The English Baroque Soloists areregularly involved in joint projects with theMonteverdi Choir, with whom theyfamously took part in the trailblazing BachCantata Pilgrimage in 2000, performing all ofBach’s sacred cantatas throughout Europe.They also toured Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydicein Hamburg and Versailles, following astaged production at the Royal OperaHouse, Covent Garden, in collaboration withthe Hofesh Shechter Dance Company.

Highlights in 2016 included tours of Bach’sMagnificat in E-flat major, Lutheran Mass inF major, and Cantata “Sü�er Trost” with theMonteverdi Choir in venues aroundEurope, as well as Bach’s St. MatthewPassion and a mixed program of Mozart’sSymphonies Nos. 39–41, Requiem, andGreat Mass in C minor.

The most recent recording by the EnglishBaroque Soloists is of Bach’s St. MatthewPassion, released by Soli Deo Gloria inMarch 2017.

White Light Festival I could compare my music to white light,which contains all colors. Only a prism candivide the colors and make them appear;this prism could be the spirit of the listener.—Arvo Pärt. Now in its eighth year, theWhite Light Festival is Lincoln Center’sannual exploration of music and art’s powerto reveal the many dimensions of our inte-rior lives. International in scope, the multidis-ciplinary festival offers a broad spectrum ofthe world’s leading instrumentalists, vocal-ists, ensembles, choreographers, dancecompanies, and directors, complementedby conversations with artists and scholarsand post-performance White Light Lounges.

Lincoln Center’s Great PerformersInitiated in 1965, Lincoln Center’s GreatPerformers series offers classical and con-temporary music performances from theworld’s outstanding symphony orchestras,vocalists, chamber ensembles, and recitalists.One of the most significant music presen-tation series in the world, Great Per formersruns from October through June with offer-ings in Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall,Alice Tully Hall, Walter Reade Theater, andother performance spaces around NewYork City. From symphonic masterworks,lieder recitals, and Sunday morning coffeeconcerts to films and groundbreaking pro-ductions specially commissioned byLincoln Center, Great Performers offers arich spectrum of programming throughoutthe season.

Lincoln Center for the PerformingArts, Inc.Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts(LCPA) serves three primary roles: presen-ter of artistic programming, national leaderin arts and education and community rela-tions, and manager of the Lincoln Centercampus. A presenter of more than 3,000free and ticketed events, performances,tours, and educational activities annually,LCPA offers 15 programs, series, and festi-vals including American Songbook, GreatPerformers, Lincoln Center Festival,Lincoln Center Out of Doors, MidsummerNight Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival,and the White Light Festival, as well as theEmmy Award–winning Live From LincolnCenter, which airs nationally on PBS. Asmanager of the Lincoln Center campus,LCPA provides support and services for theLincoln Center complex and the 11 resi-dent organizations. In addition, LCPA led a$1.2 billion campus renovation, completedin October 2012.


Monteverdi Choir

TenorHugo HymasGraham Neal

BassAlex Ashworth Samuel EvansLawrence Wallington

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ViolinKati Debretzeni, LeaderIona DaviesHenry Tong Anne Schumann,Second Principal

Henrietta WayneDavina Clarke

ViolaFanny PaccoudLisa Cochrane Małgorzata ZiemkiewiczAliye Cornish

CelloMarco Frezzato

Gamba/LironeKinga Gáborjáni

BassValerie Botwright

HarpsichordAntonio GrecoPaolo Zanzu

Chitarrone/LuteDavid MillerAlex McCartneyJosías RodríguezGándara

Jørgen Skogmo

DulcianGyörgyi Farkas

RecordersRachel BeckettCatherine Latham

CornettiFrithjof SmithRichard Thomas

HarpGwyneth Wentink

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Lincoln Center Programming DepartmentJane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic DirectorHanako Yamaguchi, Director, Music ProgrammingJon Nakagawa, Director, Contemporary ProgrammingJill Sternheimer, Director, Public ProgrammingLisa Takemoto, Production ManagerCharles Cermele, Producer, Contemporary ProgrammingMauricio Lomelin, Producer, Contemporary ProgrammingAndrew C. Elsesser, Associate Director, ProgrammingLuna Shyr, Senior EditorRegina Grande Rivera, Associate ProducerDaniel Soto, Associate Producer, Public ProgrammingWalker Beard, Production CoordinatorNana Asase, Assistant to the Artistic DirectorOlivia Fortunato, Programming AssistantDorian Mueller, House Program CoordinatorJanet Rucker, Company Manager

For the White Light FestivalSupertitles created by Kenneth Chalmers, adapted by James HallidaySupertitles operated by Megan Young

For The Return of UlyssesRick Fisher, Lighting DesignerIsabella Gardiner, Patricia Hofstede, CostumesMatthew Muller, Production ManagerNoel Mann, Stage ManagerPaolo Zanzu, Antonio Greco, Music AssistantsMatteo Dalle Fratte, Language Coach

il ritorno d’ulisse in patria - lincoln center for the...

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