CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI

 

L'Orfeo
L'incoronazione di Poppea
Il Ritorno d' Ulisse in Patria

 

Das Monteverdi-Ensemble des Opernhauses Zürich / Nikolaus Harnoncourt a.o.
Staged and directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle

 

Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts Monteverdi’s three surviving stage works

 

The Zurich Monteverdi cycle conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and staged by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle was hailed by both critics and audiences and performed at festivals all over Europe to greatest critical acclaim.

 

Nearly three decades later, this Monteverdi cycle enjoys legendary status as one of the most compelling and comprehensive approaches – both musically and visually – to these early masterworks.

 

Monteverdi’s three surviving stage works shed light on the historic roots of opera as a musical genre – starting with Orfeo, composed only few years after the “invention” of opera itself and known ever since as opera’s first masterpiece, and ending with L´Incoronazione di Poppea as one of opera’s first character dramas.

 

Despite the huge renaissance of Baroque opera on today’s stages, the Harnoncourt/Ponnelle Monteverdi cycle remains a benchmark – the cycle taps the emotional rawness of the stage works while respecting their historic dignity.

 

STEREO: PCM / SURROUND: DTS 5.1
Picture Format: 4:3
Subtitles: Italian / English / German / French / Spanish / Chinese

DG 5DVDs NTSC 0734278