Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Monteverdi

The final full stop for a much-loved company

The brainchild of opera director Monique Wagemakers, choreographer Nanine Linning and visual artist Lonneke Gordijn, this Orfeo by Nederlandse Reisopera is a thing of infinite beauty.

It is sad that Final Edition will be Richard Alston dance company's final tour, but it is a fantastic production to leave us with.

Iván Fischer’s take on Monteverdi’s opera offers a radical rewriting within the trappings of a traditional staging.

Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria is given the Pinchgut treatment, with an abstract staging complementing historically informed music-making under Erin Helyard.

It was unfair to pair the exquisite madrigals and songs of Barbara Strozzi with a weighty piece by Monteverdi.

David Fallis and colleagues offered a ravishing -- and original -- gift of Christmas music with an "alternate" Venetian Vespers drawn from Monteverdi's last published collection of sacred music. 

The unlikely pairing of jazz and Baroque makes complete sense under the baton of Sam Poppleton. 

Fine singing all round, sensitive continuo musicianship and dramatic action make for a thoroughly enjoyable Return of Ulysses by Monteverdi.

A wonderful cast conducted by William Christie in a new production of L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Salzburg Festival. 

Calixto Bieito sets Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea in a hedonist, decadent society whose citizens are defined by their egotism, ambition and sexual exploits.

Opera Atelier's return to the earliest part of the repertoire with Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria showcases their strengths in a relatively restrained production anchored by a strong ensemble cast.

Conceptually, the programme of descending and rising fourths offered a real treat: in practice, the musicians' skill was in danger of being lost as they attempted to recover from their opening gimmickry.

A Lenten programme of 17th-century French and Italian sacred music partially fulfilled its dramatic potential in refined, understated performances. 

In the Teatro Regio's production everything is according to the script, but the magic of the stage is absent. 

A series of ill-advised staging choices leads to a disappointingly drab performance of Monteverdi's Homeric epic.

The Staatsoper's new L'incoronazione di Poppea is serious, intelligent but short on fire.

The Scottish Ensemble is joined by I Fagiolini in a Winter Chorale linking ancient and modern music for Advent and Christmas. 

Pinchgut Opera's L'incoronazione di Poppea is a glorious feast of singing, acting and playing but the production is brutal, taking Monteverdi's vision of corruption in high places to excessive lengths.

I Fagiolini's very interesting programme of music by Monteverdi and his contemporaries pulls together a wide range of works, but somehow lacks an ensemble feel. 

Familiarity doesn't always breed contempt: Bach's famous Air proves the highlight of an enjoyable evening of Purcell, Bach and Pergolesi in the magnificent surroundings of Disney Hall.

Willy Decker's production, presented in Zürich in 2014, is revived at the Hamburgische Staatsoper with most of the same cast

Jean Tubéry’s virtuosity as a maestro di cornetto made up for disappointing vocalism in Monteverdi’s Vesperis in Festis Beata Mariae Vergine

The final opera in Sir John Eliot Gardiner's Monteverdi 450 trilogy features an excellent cast and inspires deep emotion.

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, the second opera of the Monteverdi 450 trilogy being toured by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, had a strong performance in Salzburg.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner's Monteverdi 450 trilogy began its Salzburg run with a tear-jerking concert performance of L'Orfeo.

Robert Hollingworth and I Fagiolini provide a whistle-stop tour of Monteverdi's different styles, from madrigals to opera, dance and sacred music, with a newly commissioned contrast from former member Roderick Williams.

Considering how rarely celebrated diva Cecilia Bartoli appears in London, Wigmore Hall certainly pulled off a coup by making her duo concert with Philippe Jaroussky happen.

Sublime orchestral playing and stellar soloists don't quite make up for a lacklustre performance by the Academy's choir in Monteverdi's moving work

Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria tells one of the world’s great stories. This production is a treat for early opera fans and a great introduction for those new to the genre.

It's typical that in the last concert in a series that has lasted seventeen years, we had a recital from a talented young singer with a growing reputation, a Rosenblatt classic.

Until now I have been fairly sceptical about theatrical stagings of oratorios and other sacred works, so I was curious but cautious about the staging of Monteverdi's Vespers at the Holland Festival.

Energetic playing, clarity and precision from Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques in three dramatic pieces by Monteverdi, but some weighty singing obscures the detail. 

Staged at Dutch National Opera’s workshop, Madrigals reduces the distance between public and performers and creates a real sensorial experience. 

A musically sensitive account of Monteverdi’s Poppea, with simple staging and 1950s costumes, sees singing triumph noticeably over the relative theatrical inexperience of HGO’s talented young cast. 

Under the baton of René Jacobs, B’rock Orchestra gave an inspired performance  that ought to contribute in giving Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria the place it deserves in the standard repertoire.

Concerto Italiano excels performing Baroque music, especially the works of Monteverdi. This year it highlights L’Orfeo in its 410th year, and does it exceptionally well.

Anna Bonitatibus provides an object lesson in compelling Baroque singing with a concert featuring "Heroines of Antiquity"

Having received excellent reviews for his Mahler, Verdi, Wagner and Shostakovich, Pablo Heras-Casado decided to programme a composer he has loved since his youth: Claudio Monteverdi. 

ETO's charactistically clear, simple production conveys Homer's story with clarity, confidence, and charm – and even humour – from a fine cast, making an exciting start to fully-staged opera at Saffron Hall. 

Emotions run high in a programme of Monteverdi madrigals given by Cantar Lontano at the Utrecht Early Music Festival.

In Shoreditch, the Royal Academy of Music showed off some superb singing in a chilling exploration of tyranny and unrestrained power.

Every early music festival these days needs one or more star countertenors in their programme. At this year’s Müpa Budapest’s Régizene Fesztival, Valer Barna-Sabadus was featured together with homegrown soprano Emöke Bárath.

Even playing in total darkness, the JACK Quartet offers illuminating insights.

Director Ole Anders Tandberg's production of Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse expertly balances the line between irreverent humour and human tragedy.

Engaging, passionate and life-afirming: Harry Christophers' group The Sixteen give a memorable rendition of Monteverdi's Vespers 1610

A joyously fresh and zesty Orfeo, played on a selection of period instruments and with a magnificent leading tenor, makes for a superb evening of Monteverdi with Sir John Eliot Gardiner. 

The workshop of Accademia di Bel Canto "Rodolfo Celletti" exhibits young rising singers in an all-time masterpiece. 

Historical verisimilitude and stylistic consistency might have been somewhat wanting... but the daring spirit and hight artistry prevailed in this historic night of operatic scene in Korea!

The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists performed Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in Costa Mesa.