Director François Caillat has adapted Monteverdi’s work and set the action of his film at night, on board the vessel bringing Tancred and his crew back to Europe. In his fevered state, Tancred relives the painful duel. Real settings are skilfully intermingled with video images, so that the result is not a traditional opera film. Its originality also comes from the confrontation of different vocal registers, the voices speaking or singing in diverse languages.

The work is structured around a narrator, who narrates the events in song, with brief interruptions from Tancred and Clorinda. The instrumental writing, scored for four viols, contrabass and harpsichord, supports the three singers throughout the whole of the narrative. Michel Corboz conducts the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble. This rare performance of Monteverdi's masterwork makes its longwanted debut on DVD.