Monteverdi : L’Incoronazione di Poppea

Monteverdi : L’Incoronazione di Poppea

Poppea wants to be crowned Empress of Rome. To achieve this, she has to marry Nero, a fickle and moody despot. She succeeds with the help of Love after a long series of complicated episodes…

A memorable production from the 2000 Festival d’Aix, this recording of The Coronation of Poppea almost never saw the light of day. The evening of the live performance, the rain almost completely sabotaged the recording, which was finally wrapped up late in the night.

Which is fortunate, because Marc Minkowski at the head of his “Musiciens du Louvre” approaches perfection with a powerful, theatrical energy. The high class cast includes Anne Sofie von Otter as an arrogant Nero, Mireille Delunsch as a fanciful Poppea, as well as extraordinary tragedian Sylvie Brunet as Octavia and Charlotte Hellekant as Ottone, Poppea’s unfortunate spouse.

Klaus Michael Grüber’s excellent direction brings out the more subtle psychological drives inherent in Monteverdi’s greatest masterpiece. The superb set decoration is by Gilles Aillaud.

Monteverdi : L’Incoronazione di Poppea [DVD]

Opera in one prologue and three acts

Music : Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Libretto : Giovanni Francesco Busenello

Poppea : Mireille Delunsch
Nerone : Anne Sofie von Otter
Octavia : Sylvie Brunet
Ottone : Charlotte Hellekant
Arnalta : Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Seneca : Denis Sedov

Les Musiciens du Louvre • Grenoble
Conductor : Marc Minkowski

Stage direction : Klaus Michael Grüber

Sets : Gilles Ailaud