In a rare display of unanimous praise, international music critics rated
this cycle one of the greatest operatic events of its time. Although
Monteverdi played a truly important role in the development of opera, only
few major opera houses have ventured to present these three Baroque
masterpieces. Years of intensive study by conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt,
not only of the transmitted scores but also of the instruments used in
Monteverdi's time, were necessary to provide a basis for the exceptionally
high standard of the Zurich productions. Just how meticulously Harnoncourt
and the celebrated stage director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle prepared themselves
is made partly clear by the fact that the orchestra exclusively played
original 17th-century instruments and specially-made copies for these
productions. This in turn meant that each of the 39 members of the
orchestra needed the qualifications of a soloist. It was not by accident
that the recordings of all three productions won top international awards.
This was simply further proof that a long-awaited expansion of the standard
opera repertoire had successfully been realized. What makes the Monteverdi
cycle a unique project is the certainty that it can never again be repeated
with quite the same quality and feeling.
