THE RETURN OF ULYSSES at THE NORWEGIAN OPERA & BALLET

A helpless human being. Ulysses has been away at war for 20 years and throughout this time his wife Penelope has remained faithful to him. Now he is returning and wishes to test his wife’s fidelity. Penelope is to choose a new husband and declares that she will marry the man who draws the bow that only Ulysses has previously managed to draw. But why does Ulysses want to test Penelope’s fidelity, when he has been unfaithful for years? Why must he massacre the other competitors, when he has her already? Isn’t he compelling Penelope to be unfaithful? Director Ole Anders Tandberg will ask us these and many other questions in this production.
Human existence is presented as totally uncertain, wearied and crushed by blind and ruthless fate. When love is subject to the whims of the gods, human beings become crippled and helpless victims.

This production marks the return of Ole Anders Tandberg following his success with The Coronation of Poppea in 2009/2010. His intention is to complete the Monteverdi trilogy with a future staging of Orpheus.

Original title: Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria
Music: Claudio Monteverdi
Libretto: Giacomo Badoaro
Musical direction: Alessandro de Marchi
Director: Ole Anders Tandberg
Scenography: Erlend Birkeland
Costumes: Maria Geber
Lighting Design: Ellen Ruge