Longborough festival opera, Moreton-in-Marsh A terrific cast, led by Tom Randle, emphasise the violence in this version of the Monteverdi opera, transposed to a traumatised modern-day Ithaca “Monteverdi’s Flying Circus” was the affectionate nickname given to an ENO production of The Coronation of Poppea, but with its specially adapted tent and suitably trimmed score, this new Longborough festival opera version of the composer’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse merits that label too. There’s no flying trapeze, yet this is still a daring venture with a terrific cast, though given that director Polly Graham emphasises Homer’s violence and gore, it’s not exactly all the fun of the circus. Underlining that myths should be for all time, with contemporary resonance, Ulisse is not the conquering hero returning to his Greek island home, but a war-scarred soldier returning to an American, gun-toting Ithaca. Continue reading...
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