Praise for The Return of Ulysses
With this production (its first!) Pacific [Music]works has established itself as a national level producer of opera…
—Michael Milenski, Opera Today | full review
The return of Stephen Stubbs to Seattle has reached a climax with the launching of his new company, Pacific [Music]works. Those who witnessed the maiden voyage Wednesday night of Monteverdi’s opera, “The Return of Ulysses,” will be congratulating themselves for years to come.
—John Sutherland, Seattle Times | full review
The sorcery of “The Return of Ulysses” owes much to the eerie anthropomorphism of the puppets, the work of South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company; much to the musical excellence of Seattle’s Pacific [Music]works led by musical director Stephen Stubbs; and most of all to Kentridge’s probingly humanistic approach.
—Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle | full review
Launching any enterprise today is a bold gesture, but an opera company devoted to 17th- and early 18th-century opera, as well as contemporary opera, even more so. Yet, visionaries have always done what they want to do when the moment is ripe for them, regardless of the circumstances.
Such is Stephen Stubbs, whose new opera company, Pacific [Music]works, made its formal debut Wednesday night at the Moore Theatre. The production is not any ordinary affair but a compelling and provocative reading of one of the earliest operas in the repertory -- Claudio Monteverdi’s “The Return of Ulysses.”
—R.M. Campbell, Seattle Post-Intelligencer | full review
The decision to launch their venture with a challenging version of a rarely seen work would be remarkable under any circumstances. Somehow, company founder Stephen Stubbs and colleagues have beaten the odds and steered their way through the Scylla of a disastrous economy and the Charybdis of predictable, comfort-food programming. That the result is so richly rewarding is auspicious on its own terms and an encouragement for Seattle’s arts community.
—Thomas May, Crosscut | full review
This is the opening production of Pacific [Music]works, a tiny presenting company established here and headed by Stubbs which aims to bring stellar productions to Seattle, like this one, of the kinds of opera and unusual concepts or performance practices which aren’t done by Seattle Opera. Stubbs intends to draw on the rich musical and theatrical resources of the Seattle area to complement what he brings in from elsewhere in the world. While Stubbs has been known for his work in the early music field, Pacific [Music]works does not intend to confine itself to that era.
Musically, this “Ulysses” is a joy.
—Philippa Kiraly, The Gathering Note | full review