Under their conductor John Eliot Gardiner,the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists orchestra have announced plans to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Claudio Monteverdi’s birth with a worldwide tour of his three surviving operas: L’Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and L’incoronazione di Poppea.
The ensemble, which was formed for a performance of Monterverdi’s Vespers more than 50 years ago, will dedicate its entire 2017 programme to the composer’s anniversary.
Gardiner likens Monteverdi to his near-contemporary William Shakespeare, another artist whose work is enjoying the spotlight of a landmark anniversary : ‘Both revelled in juxtaposing tragedy with lowlife comedy. Both men lived on the cusp of exciting, and dangerous, cultural voids.’ And Monteverdi, like Shakespeare, ‘shows a deep empathy for his characters – including the less salubrious ones.’
For more information about the 2017 tour, click here.