Hear Claudio Monteverdi's "L’Incoronazione di Poppea" on Classical IPR on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Monteverdi's last opera was premiered in the winter of 1642, at a time when opera was emerging from palaces of and was beginning to be staged in theatres, providing access to wider audiences.
It was also beginning to use plots based on historical events instead of mythology, as was the case in Monteverdi's own L'Orfeo.
The music captures Nero's tyrannical hysteria and Poppea's irresistible sensuality.
Both words and music are used to achieve superb dramatic effects in a dazzling combination of comedy and tragedy.
This production is being presented by the Gran Teatre del Liceu Opera in Barcelona under the baton of Jordi Savall.
COMPOSER: Claudio Monteverdi
LIBRETTO: Giovanni Francesco Busenello
CAST:
Nerone: David Hansen
Poppea: Julie Fuchs
Ottone: Xavier Sabata
Seneca: Nahuel Di Pierro
Liberto: Josep Ramon Olivé
Lucano: Thobela Ntshanyana
Valetto: Natalia Labourdette
Littore: Milan Perišic
Ottavia: Magdalena Kožená
Drusilla: Deanna Breiwick
La Fortuna: (Fortune) / Lady-in-Waiting to the Empress / Pallade Rita Morais
Nutrice: Marcel Beekman
Arnalta: Emiliano Gonzales
Toro La Virtù (Virtue): Irene Mas Salom
Amore / Florie: Jake Arditti
ENSEMBLE:
Members of Le Concert des Nations and of Gran Teatre del Liceu Orchestra
CONDUCTOR: Jordi Savall
Approx. Length: 3 Hours and 35 Minutes