Monteverdi - Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses) (Henze version) / Tate, Allen, Kuhlmann, Salzburg Festival

Rating:
Summary: Is This Monteverdi ?
Review: This title is one I purchased because I thought that any version of a Monteverdi opera would be worth having. I was mistaken and I think that the scoring and playing is probably the main flaw though the vocal performances are also flawed. You may not be a renaissance buff, but I think that almost anyone will agree that the apparently continuous use of winds, especially brass, and percussion along with wide vibrato and sloppy singing in the voices does not do Monteverdi justice. The story is, of course, the return of Ulysses to his home on Ithaca as told in the Odyssey. I found little to recommend this production except as the only available video of this opera.