Fernando Guimarâes and Brenton Spiteri in The Return of Ulysses (photograph by Brett Boardman)

There is a striking parallel in the context of the genesis of Verdi’s two late masterpieces, Otello and Falstaff, and Monteverdi’s final two extant operas (a third opera is lost). Both men were in their seventies when these operas were written – very old by the standards of the time. In some ways, these works are a culmination and summation of long years of practical experience in the theatre, but they also point in new directions.

Monteverdi came relatively late to the new world of the commercial theatre of Venice, and his pre-eminence as an opera composer was being threatened by much younger men, much as Verdi’s would be more than two centuries later. Venice offered a different range of possibilities for him – the city was flourishing artistically, as a contemporary commentator observes:

Venice, always and of every occasion extraordinary, and never tired of displaying her greatness, has discovered the remarkable also in virtuoso entertainment, having introduced a few years ago the presentation of music in grand drama with such sets and stage-machines that they surpass all belief and what the richest treasuries can produce only with difficulty (and only rarely) in royal halls here we see easily achieved with private resources, not only in one, but in three theatres at once; and competing with each other for the greatest perfections, they each draw spectators from the most remote parts of Italy.

Despite this, the resources available to Monteverdi were in some ways more limited in comparison to Orfeo, where the prominence of choruses highlights their almost complete absence in Ulisse. However, the musical advances in the intervening thirty years in terms of melodic writing and the growing complexity of harmonic and rhythmic invention are striking. One of the great operatic developments – the aria – is also more prominent and distinctive in these later works, in a sense shifting the emphasis from the word back onto the music.

The expansion of the importance and scope of the aria allowed Monteverdi to explore the emotional interiority of character, which remains one of the glories of the operatic art form to the present. This is highlighted to most memorable effect at the end of Ulisse where Penelope, whose musical existence has largely been expressed in recitative during the twenty years of her despair and doubt, hesitantly, and then with growing confidence, begins to bloom musically as she finally recognises and joyfully embraces the returned Ulysses.

Fernando Guimarâes in The Return of Ulysses (photograph by Brett Boardman)

Pinchgut Opera, which recently won the International Opera award for Best Rediscovered Work (Hasse’s Artaserse), has assembled a diverse and highly accomplished young cast for a production of the final part of itsMonteverdi trilogy, led by Portuguese tenor Fernando Guimarães as Ulysses, and Australian mezzo Catherine Carby as the patient Penelope. Both are highly experienced singers, well versed in Monteverdian declamation, and both possess voices of beauty and expressivity. Carby conveys the suppressed emotional life of the character to great effect, only at the end allowing the joy of their final meeting to emerge in full and glorious vocal bloom. She has a voice with a steely quality where necessary, as well as a strong yet sympathetic persona. Guimarães, who won a Grammy nomination for his performance of this role, has a slender, supple voice with a wide range of vocal colours allied to a commanding stage presence. Their final reconciliation is one of the highlights of the performance.

The opera has over twenty named characters, and the rest of the performers are called upon to play multiple roles. Particularly fine is Lauren Lodge-Campbell as Minerva, with a rich soprano and winning personality. Roberta Diamond as Melanto and Douglas Kelly as Eurimaco are the couple who provide the happy contrast to the tortured Penelope and absent Ulysses. Diamond’s clear and substantial soprano with Kelly’s bright tenor provided their scenes with sparkle and humour. One of the highlights of the performance is Brenton Spiteri in Telemaco’s recognition scene with his father Ulysses – two very different tenor voices – with Spiteri’s heroic tones blending with the softer-grained sound of Guimarães.

Brenton Spiteri and Lauren Lodge-Campbell in The Return of Ulysses (photograph by Brett Boardman)

Nicholas Tolputt, Jacob Lawrence, Mark Wilde, and Wade Kernot all provide sterling work in their multiplicities of personas. If some of the lower voices lack the weight at the bottom of the wide vocal range that Monteverdi demands, one must acknowledge that these are young singers who are still developing vocally.

Making the best of the limited resources available in the City Recital Hall, director Chas Rader-Schieber, designer Melanie Liertz, and lighting designer Nicholas Rayment have created an effective space for the action, utilising the whole stage with the innovative use of shifting long white drapes to provide visual and spacial definition. Without a stage set as such, the use of ‘ghost’ chairs and table provide a versatile playing space, while the costumes provide humour as well as poignancy when necessary.

Erin Helyard leads the musical forces with his customary élan, absolute control, and refined musical intelligence. A danger with these early baroque works is a sameness in the musical texture and emotional temperature, but Helyard is always able to extract all the dramatic essence from his musical forces while allowing the drama to seamlessly unfold on stage. The Orchestra of the Antipodes has been with Pinchgut from the start, and the empathy and understanding between the players and Helyard is one of the glories of contemporary opera performance in Australia.

While Ulisse is perhaps the least frequently performed of Monteverdi’s three extant operas, for many it is the most profound and austere work, contrasted with the innovation of Orfeo and the voluptuous sensuality of Poppea. In regard to Ulisse, Tim Carter eloquently acknowledges Monteverdi’s ability and sensitivity to exploit the essential paradox of opera and to make ‘profound emotional and dramatic points both about his characters and about sung drama as a whole. By learning to sing again, Penelope becomes emotionally whole: this is a timeless message not only, perhaps not even, about the power of love – it is the power of song, indeed a matter of life, not laughter.’

The Return of Ulysses is being performed by Pinchgut Opera at the City Recital Hall, Sydney, from June 13 to 19 2019.