Ravinia 2019, Issue 4, Week 8

16 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 15 – JULY 28, 2019 Natural Renée Fleming gives high voice to the maturity of Previn/Stoppard’s new Penelope By Mark Thomas Ketterson A FEW YEARS AGO, the Tony-nominated director Diane Paulus was anticipating a production of Monteverdi’s e Re- turn of Ulysses for an upcoming Chicago Opera eatre season. Based upon the second half of Homer’s Odyssey, Monteverdi’s opera is concerned with Ulysses’s return from the Trojan wars to his wife, Penelope. Paulus had not settled upon her approach to the piece, but one inspiration coursed through her conversa- tion like a conceptual leitmotif: “Penelope,” she said presciently. “I am very interested in Penelope.” RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 15 –