The Coronation of Poppea Opera by Claudio Monteverdi Libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello In Italian with German surtitles Premiere 12 Dec
"I fear nothing: Cupid and Fortuna fight for me."
The ambitious Poppea has an affair with the Roman emperor Nero. She now gives her former lover Ottone the cold shoulder. When Nero decides to abandon his wife Ottavia in order to make Poppea empress, there is a rift between him and Seneca, his teacher and advisor. Seneca pays for his criticism of the tyrant's actions with his life. Ottavia then forces the distraught Ottone to make an attempt on Poppea's life. But Cupid intervenes ...
With his last opera, L'incoronazione di Poppea , Claudio Monteverdi created an epoch-making masterpiece in 1642, which was to set the tone for operas and music dramas of later centuries . For the first time, the plot is based on a historical event rather than mythological material . In this play about power and love, nothing appears idealized - and virtue is dealt a bad hand. At the end, "Pur ti miro - Pur ti godo" is one of the first and most touching love duets in opera history. But what lies behind this euphony ? Are the feelings between Poppea and Nero really sincere?
Director Judith Lebiez stages Monteverdi's Poppea as a kaleidoscope of human passions - sensual, beguiling and powerful .
