The serious opera lover would have to go back over half a century, when Maria Callas made her American debut, to find a more prestigious Chicago event than the Monteverdi 450, scheduled for October 12, 13 and 15 at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.

On each of these three dates, one of Claudio Monteverdi’s extant operas will be performed – “L’Orfeo” (1607), “Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria” (1639) and “L’incoronazione di Poppea” (1642). The performing company is doing an international tour of selected cities, and Chicago is the American première. The only other place in the United States where Monteverdi 450 will appear is in New York at the Lincoln Center.