- Claudio Monteverdi. Dramma per musica in a prologue and three acts. 1640.
- Libretto by Giacomo Badoaro, after Homer's Odyssey.
- First performance at the Teatro SS Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, in 1640.
CHARACTERS
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| L'Humana Fragilità (Human Frailty) | soprano |
| Il Tempo (Time) | bass |
| La Fortuna (Fortune) | soprano |
| Amore (Cupid) | soprano |
| Penelope, wife of Ulysses | soprano |
| Ericlea (Eurycleia), her old nurse | mezzo-soprano |
| Melanto, her young maid-servant | soprano |
| Eurimaco (Eurymachus), a courtier, Melanto's lover | tenor |
| Nettuno (Neptune) | bass |
| Giove (Jupiter) | tenor |
| Ulisse (Ulysses) | tenor |
| Minerva | soprano |
| Eumete (Eumaeus), a swineherd, old servant of Ulysses | tenor |
| Iro (Irus), a parasite | tenor |
| Telemaco (Telemachus), son of Ulysses and Penelope | tenor |
| Antinoo (Antinous), a suitor of Penelope | bass |
| Pisandro (Peisander), a suitor of Penelope | tenor |
| Anfinomo (Amphinomus), a suitor of Penelope | male alto |
| Giunone (Juno) | soprano |
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| (Mercurio (Mercury), in the libretto only) |
In the prologue Time, Fortune and Cupid claim to have control of human destiny and argue
against Human Frailty. Penelope laments her situation, in the long absence of her husband, and
beset by suitors. In a short scene of dalliance between Melanto and Eurymachus it becomes clear
that the latter hopes that Melanto will persuade Penelope to give in. Elsewhere the Phaeacians
return Ulysses to his country and Neptune, with the approval of Jupiter, punishes them for
disobeying him, turning them into a rock. Ulysses, waking alone on the coast, is helped by Minerva,
disguised as a shepherd, who tells him that he is now in Ithaca, his homeland, and explains the
situation in his house. She advises him to adopt the disguise of an old beggar and leaves in order to
bring Telemachus back from Sparta. In the palace Melanto tries to persuade Penelope to accept one
of the suitors, but she refuses. Eumaeus, expelled from the court by the intruders, is happy in his
pastoral life, mocked by Irus. Ulysses assures him that his master is alive, but does not reveal his
identity. In the second act Telemachus returns and Ulysses reveals his identity to him, while
Penelope, in the palace, rejects the suitors one by one. Eumaeus tells her that Telemachus has
returned and Ulysses may soon follow. The suitors determine to kill Telemachus but are deterred by
an omen. Helped by Minerva, Ulysses comes to the palace, still as a beggar, and seeks leave to
compete with the suitors in drawing the bow that was his and that the suitors cannot bend. He kills
the suitors, but it is only in the course of the third act that Penelope is eventually convinced of his
true identity, leading to a final love duet.
Il ritorno d'Ulisse (The Return of Ulysses) is the first complete surviving opera of Monteverdi
written for Venice, to be followed by Le nozze d'Enea con Lavinia (The Marriage of Aeneas and
Lavinia), based on Virgil's Aeneid, the music of which is now lost, and his last opera L'incoronazione
di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppaea), with its plot derived from the historian Tacitus and other
sources. Penelope's lament Di misera regina (Wretched queen) opens the first act, while the third
act brings a notable climax in the killing of the suitors. The operatic genre now allows elements of
comedy and these are largely provided by the parasite Irus.
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