Monteverdi: L'Incoronazione di Poppea

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CD Details

Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1993-06-08
Music Label: Teldec
Soundtracks:

Music CD 1

L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Prologo - Prologue - Prolog
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene I: 'E pure io torno qui'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene II: 'Chi parla'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene III: 'Signor, deh, non partire'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene IV: 'Speranza tu mi vai'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene V: 'Disprezzata Regina'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene VI: 'Ecco la sconsolata donna'

Music CD 2

L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene VII: 'Le porpore regali e imperatrici'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene VIII: 'Seneca, io miro in cielo infausti rai'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene IX: 'Son risoluto insomma'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene X: 'Come dolci, Signor'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene XI: 'Ad altri tocca in sorte'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene XII: 'Otton torna in te stesso'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene XIII: 'Pur sempre con Poppea'

Music CD 3

L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: SceneI: 'Solitudine amata'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene II: 'Il comando tiranno'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene III: 'Amici, è giunta l'hora'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene V: 'Sento un certo non so che'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene VI: 'Hor che Seneca è morto'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene VIII: 'I miei subiti sdegni'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene IX: 'Tu che dagli Avi miei'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene X: 'Felice cor mio'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene XI: 'Io non so dov'io vada'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: scene XII: 'Horche Seneca è morto'

Music CD 4

L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene XIII: 'Dorme, L'incaauta dorme'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene XIV: 'Eccomi trasformato'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene XV: 'Ho difesa Poppea'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene I: 'O felice Drusilla'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: SceneII: 'Ecco la scelerata'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene III: 'Signor, ecco la rea'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene IV: 'No, no, questa sentenza'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene V: 'Signor, hoggi rinasco'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene VI: 'A Dio, Roma'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene VII 'Hoggi sarà Poppea'
L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Scene VIII: 'Ascendi, o mia diletta'

Music reviews of Monteverdi: L'Incoronazione di Poppea

Music Review: Monteverdi's last, great opera
Rating: 5 Stars

If Monteverdi is considered the father of opera (his work 'L'Orfeo' is considered by many to be the first opera), then this is the crowning achievement of his operatic composition career. 'The Coronation of Poppea' draws not on sacred themes nor on mythological themes, but rather on historical events - Poppea was the wife of the emperor Nero,

Monteverdi and Busenello casts Poppea as a heroine, drawing her story from the Annals of Tacitus. There is a mythic overlay, as the characters of Love, Virtue and Fortune are personified, and in the end Love wins out over all (this draws on the mythological story 'The Judgement of Paris', in which three goddesses sought out an impartial judge, and Paris ruled in favour of love, setting off a course of events that would lead to the Trojan War).

There is quite a mess of love affairs, cheatings, and courtships in the story, as befit the scene in ancient Rome. The irony is that the climax seems to be the coronation of Poppea as Empress, having displaced the previous Empress and having left her husband Ottone for that of the emperor, whereas in history (a history the audience would know) Poppea then ends up being murdered by Nero, and Ottone/Otho ends up as emperor after all (albeit very briefly, being one of the four in the 'year of four emperors').

Ottone is often played as a baritone, but the original calls for an alto. Nero/Nerone was a role for a castrato soprano, now often cast for performance by a tenor or mezzo-soprano. There is quite a reversal of things here, as Poppea's nurse is usually played lower, often by a tenor.

The instrumentation of this performance strives for historical accuracy. 'Various continuo instruments, harpsichord, virginal, chitarrone, lute, organ and harp were in part assigned to certain figures, and partly also to definite dramatic effects, so that at the same time the dialogue sees a change in the continuo sound.' The composition survives in notes and singing parts only for the most part, in which much reconstruction has had to take place. Harnoncourt and his ensemble, the Concentus musicus Wien, have done a very good job at drawing together a fuller feel, but as another reviewer has commented, modern ideas are that Monteverdi intentionally left the composition more spare, and the more-Baroque sound of Harnoncourt, however beautiful, is in fact less faithful to the original than once thought.

Helen Donath and Elisabeth Soderstrom are perfect for their roles as Poppea and Nerone; the role of Seneca is performed by Giancarlo Luccardi, who gives a good, forceful and meaningful voice to this important role.

This was originally recorded and released on vinyl by Teldec in 1974, and it is wonderful to have it available on CD. The transfer has been done with very high production value, and no discernable degradation of sound.

More Monteverdi: L'Incoronazione di Poppea free music reviews:
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