The Return of Ulysses, an opera by Claudio Monteverdi

OPENING NIGHT BENEFIT PERFORMANCE

The Modern Art Council, SFMOMA’s primary fund-raising auxiliary, will host the opening night benefit performance of Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses, an opera directed by artist William Kentridge. Guests can mingle at a pre-show cocktail reception held at Circolo restaurant, then be among the first to see the highly anticipated production in its San Francisco debut. All proceeds support SFMOMA’s exhibitions and public programs

A superb tale is always worth the retelling. A story from Homer’s Odyssey was brought to vivid life by Claudio Monteverdi in Venice in 1640, focusing the action on Ulysses’s return to Ithaca after his odyssey of more than 20 years. Aided by the goddess Minerva and disguised as an old beggar, he reveals his true identity and power as he routs the unwelcome suitors who have plundered his home and wooed his longsuffering wife, Penelope.

Monteverdi’s masterful wedding of words with music of unique expressive exactness gave birth to one of the seminal masterpieces of opera. Kentridge recreates the story for our time, placing the dying Ulysses in a hospital ward in mid-20th–century Johannesburg. Using animated charcoal drawings and life-size wooden puppets, Kentridge adds
a fascinating visual world to Homer’s epic and Monteverdi’s music, bringing us into direct contact with the power of myth.

The Return of Ulysses is presented in conjunction
with SFMOMA's exhibition William Kentridge: Five Themes in
acknowledgment of the profound importance of theatrical work in Kentridge’s oeuvre. Performed in Italian with English supertitles; 90 minutes.

• Venue: Theater Artaud
• Date: Wed March 25, 2009 8:00pm
• City: San Francisco
• Price Range: $350 to $750
• Tickets: 415.618.3268

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