L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA

(The Coronation of Poppea)
Claudio Monteverdi 1567 – 1643

Opera in three acts with a prologue
Libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello
First performed in 1642, in Venice
Sung in Italian with German surtitles

Duration: 3 1/2 hours incl. one interval

© Monika Rittershaus

PERFORMANCES

25.12.2014 |
26.12.2014 |28.12.2014 |
31.12.2014 |01.01.2015 |
03.01.2015

Alfred Reiter (Seneca) © Monika Rittershaus

ARTISTIC TEAM

Conductor
Simone Di Felice
Director
Ute M. Engelhardt
Stage Designer
Julia Müer
Costume Designer
Katharina Tasch
Lighting Designer
Joachim Klein
Video
Bibi Abel
Dramaturge
Zsolt Horpácsy

Gaëlle Arquez (Nerone), Naomi O’Connell (Poppea) © Monika Rittershaus

Alfred Reiter (Seneca) © Monika Rittershaus

CAST

Nerone
Gaëlle Arquez
Ottavia
Claudia Mahnke
Poppea
Naomi O’Connell
Ottone
William Towers
Seneca
Alfred Reiter
Arnalta
Hans-Jürgen Lazar
Valletto, Amore
Elizabeth Reiter
Damigella, Fortuna
Nora Friedrichs *
Drusilla
Anna Ryberg
Nutrice
Martin Wölfel
Virtù / Pallade
Jessica Strong*
Liberto / Lucano / Littore
Francisco Brito
Mercurio / Famigliare 3 / Tribune
Iurii Samoilov
Soldat 1 / Console
Aljoscha Lennert
Soldat 2 / Famigliare 2
Julian Habermann

Oper Frankfurt’s Orchestra

Hans-Jürgen Lazar (Arnalta), Naomi O’Connell (Poppea) © Monika Rittershaus

About the work

Nero ruled half the world from his throne in Rome. The only one more powerful than the tyrant was Amor, God of Love, who sets in motion a terrible game of desire and jealousy to prove it. 74 year old Claudio Monteverdi was not at all coy when it came to depicting the characters and intrigue in a story set in ancient Rome, creating a spectacle full of twists and turns. In one of the first works to be performed in a public opera house and not at court, Monteverdi decided to move away from the more usual mythical themes and focussed instead on the young tyrant Nero: the Roman Emperor, married to Ottavia, has fallen hopelessly and passionately in love with Poppea, General Ottone’s unscrupulous wife. Seneca tries to make him see sense – but Nero would rather drive his old teacher to commit suicide than forget about Poppea.

Naomi O’Connell (Poppea), William Towers (Ottone) © Monika Rittershaus

Claudia Mahnke (Ottavia) © Monika Rittershaus

When Ottavia and Ottone are caught trying to kill Poppea in her sleep all obstacles are scattered to the wind: Nero sends his wife and general into exile and crowns Poppea Empress of Rome. So… »goodness« is not victorious: the inconsiderate win, people prepared to let nothing get in the way of their passions and goals. The work is full of amusing scenes which have nothing to do with main story at all but, apparently, give us an idea of what made Venetians laugh in those days.

Martin Wölfel (Nutrice/Famigliare 3), Claudia Mahnke (Ottavia) © Monika Rittershaus

A young pair of lovers, two nurses and Fortuna and Virtù complete the picture: in the prologue the goddesses of pleasure and virtue argue about which of them will best be able to steer the course of events. But, in the end, it is Amor, the laughing third, who boasted that he »could change the entire world on a whim«, who wins.

Gaëlle Arquez (Nerone) , Nora Friedrichs (Damigella) © Monika Rittershaus

Ensemble © Monika Rittershaus

Gaëlle Arquez (Nerone) und Francisco Brito (Lucano), Ensemble © Monika Rittershaus

Naomi O’Connell (Poppea), Gaëlle Arquez (Nerone) © Monika Rittershaus