Theater: Coronation of Poppea

Keywords

Coronation of Poppea Theatre Schedule

Chicago Gigs

Coronation of Poppea

Album

Songs

Video

Music

Come get your tickets to see one of the most famous operas from one of the best-known pioneers of the genre- come get your tickets to see Claudio Monteverdi's classic piece The Coronation of Poppea, a passionate and intense opera that outlines how love truly conquers all, even under the most questionable of circumstances and that if a couple are deemed to be together by love, they will come together no matter what.

Monteverdi is known to have written many operas but only three of them remain, The Coronation of Poppea being one of them. This was his last play and accordingly is seen to be his most brilliant work as it also displays his maturity as a writer. This particular piece is characterized by its lyricism and the power of his recitative writing, which can be seen to meld beautifully into a number of closed forms.

The play opens with a prelude, where Love, Fortune and Virtue are arguing to see which one is the greatest. Love finally says that he will prove on that very day that he is the greatest and thus begins the story. In the beginning we see Ottone, who is mourning the fact that his lover Poppea is having an affair with the emperor Nero, a fact that is revealed by the presence of guards in front of Poppea's gate, who have been assigned to stand guard while Nero and Poppea are inside.

Meanwhile inside, Poppea and Nero realize that for their love to prevail they must exile Nero's wife Ottavia- Poppea pushes her case with an impressive array of seduction that ultimately results in Nero promising to make her his empress and to exile Ottavia. During this scene, four duets are performed that causes the two voices to blend together seamlessly, thus symbolizing the unity of their passion and love.

Ottavia however is not a fool and realizes that she is being had- in a moving lament that is sprinkled with heart-rending sobs, Ottavia bids farewell to her homeland and leaves. But yet another hurdle remains in the way of the lovers- Seneca, who is Nero's tutor hears of Nero's plan and advises him to reconsider. After making initially calm and collected responses to Seneca's queries, Nero soon loses his temper and resorts to threats and insults. An order is placed to kill Seneca but Seneca takes his own life before that can happen.

In the end, Poppea does indeed become empress and the two lovers seem happy but they have certainly resorted to unscrupulous means to achieve this happiness. This is ultimately what Love sets out to prove in order to show his greatness.