A man awakens and blinks his eyes. He remembers what happened - or was it a dream? In this penetrating production, love, guilt and violence merge into a feverish dream. The life of the notorious composer-murderer Gesualdo and Monteverdi's composition Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, about a knight who kills his lover because he does not recognize her in armor, are the sources of inspiration for this program.

Soprano Anna Prohaska and tenor Ian Bostridge are the guides through this labyrinth of real and false memories, in which identity and boundaries blur and constantly shift. Two dancers accompany the singers on their search for an appropriate ending to their story. The story of two lovers also touches on themes of polarization, the multiplicity of identity, and the subconscious.

The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century will play Monteverdi's Combattimento as the musical core of this program, conducted by Richard Egarr. Around that, they play works from the Italian Baroque by Monteverdi, Gesualdo and other composers. The orchestra also becomes part of the drama. Directed by Sommer Ulrickson, this creates a poignant performance about eternal questions of love and guilt.