Customer Reviews

Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea

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I've been a fan of this opera for more than 40 years and even put together a performance of the Prologue while a graduate student. I've seen a number of live performances, and own many CDs and DVDs of performances dating back to the 1960s.

This version is stunning in terms of the singing and the production. First, they got all the voice parts as Monteverdi had intended: Nero is a mezzo, Ottone is a countertenor, and the two nurses are travesty roles (here, sung and acted by men). Emmanuelle Haïm is a gem as music director. I've been a fan of hers since her recording of the Handel "Delirio" Cantata with Natalie Dessay.

The performance of the singers and the orchestra is of the highest quality, the scholarship is first-rate, and both the staging and music direction are imaginative and fun! Here's an opera where evil triumphs over good, and the audience leaves smiling. Highly recommended.

Claudio Monteverdi was in the final year of his life when this brilliant amoral operatic masterpiece was first presented in the city of intrigue, Venice. With what may have been intended as ironic commentary on the state of Europe's ruling aristocracy in 1643, Monteverdi concentrates his genius on the opera's two most loathsome creations - Poppea and Nerone - as the severely flawed central characters. Although we are initially presented with a contest between the mythological characters Virtue, Fortune and Love, this is merely the opera's 'MacGuffin': Hitchcock's phrase for a malleable plot device that facilitates the telling of a story. L'incoronazione di Poppea, despite its surface obeisance to the world of myth, is an opera with a human heartbeat. The corrupt humans who infest this Baroque equivalent of a Hollywood action film are essentially evil, selfish and disturbingly goal-oriented. But what rings most modern in this production is that we identify completely with its odious central characters. We applaud their most depraved actions and revel in their final success. It is like the WWF with recitatives.

Glyndebourne's modern dress production stars the beautiful and seductive Danielle de Niese as the beautiful and seductive Poppea. Following her stunning debut in Glyndebourne's production of Handel's Julius Caesar, those of us who predicted stardom for the young singer were hardly crawling out on a limb. It has come to pass, of course, and the very qualities that have raised her high in the operatic firmament are all present on this two DVD set. Her melliform voice is lyrical and resonant, with a marvelous ability to convey emotion without attracting attention to her underlaying technique. Her engrossing stage presence acts as an adjunct to her singing, conveying a three dimensional characterization in her role that heightens the opera's ironic drama. As her actions become increasingly cynical and as her life is threatened by those who plot against her, we as a modern audience used to indeterminate morality identify with her plight and applaud her ultimate success. Whether a Baroque audience responded in the same way is an open question.

Alice Coote singing Nerone is suitably unpleasant. We don't identify with her but we admire her ability to remain so untroubled by evil. Athough the interaction between Nerone and Poppea didn't strike me as particularly erotically charged, they make excellent plotters and the drama is well served. Coote's singing is good though she occasionally struck me as a little bland. The rest of the cast is good. Especially strong is Dominique Visse as Nutrice. Emmanuelle Haim is a superb Baroque conductor and she does an especially good job conducting the splendid Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, still my favorite name for a band.

The modern production and set design is rather spare. The first act is confined to crimson colored bedchambers and the rest of the opera occurs mostly on a bare stage with few props. It is Monteverdi's brilliant music that carries the day and here it is well sung and acted. The moral ambiguity of this opera makes it relevant, the composer's artistry makes it enjoyable. With Danielle de Niese's undeniable star power as an added incentive this production of Monteverdi's somewhat problematic opera (much of the last scene was probably completed by Francisco Cavilli) is worth adding to your Baroque opera collection. The sound both in stereo PCM and DTS 5.1 is superb as is the high definition video. The opera is spread across two DVDs and it should have fit on one but this practice is now fairly common as recording companies attempt to recoup (or maximize) their investment (or profits).

Mike Birman

I was fully prepared not to like this recording of Poppea. For years I have enjoyed this masterwork in the radiant production of Nikolaus Harnoncourt done with Jean-Pierre Ponelle. I feared that this "modern" production would be an empty and horrendous mess as the director-driven "eurotrash" productions of most Handel operas and all Rameau works so far done as "modern". What a great surprise is this Glyndebourne gem directed by Robert Carsen and conducted by Emmanuelle Haim! First the voicing is as written by Monteverdi with a Mezzo for the Nero to compliment the Soprano of Poppea. The brilliance of the final "pur ti Miro" duet attests to that validity. I admit understanding Alice Coote's Nero took several listenings before I appreciated her artistry here. Rather than a gruff, supermacho tyrant, this portrayal is of a petulant wily weasel, a totally corrupt being that picts his teeth with his fingers after having snacked on Ottavia's chicken and in one of the most scarrilous scenes ever seen on stage, has Lucano drowned after a homoerotic encounter while the two of them sing of Poppea's love.
This is the last will and testament of a consummate composer and artist that had for decades provided lofty masterpieces as the 1610 Vespers and numerous choral and operatic works all attesting to man's highest values and morals. Yet this work is arguably even greater as it reflects the human race as it is rather than what it might be. Perhaps Poppea realizes this as she, in the end, wraps herself in the royal robes(or shroud) and fear is on her face.

"L'Incoronazione di Poppea" is an outrageous piece of work! The libretto by Francesco Busanello is morally ambiguous, as cynical as Machiavelli's 'The Prince' or as Webster's 'The White Duchess'. The music, by Monteverdi/Cavalli, is coyly lascivious throughout. Libretto and music combine seamlessly in an opera of shockingly 'modern' sensibilities, a tale of unbridled lust and cruelty, darker than "Lulu" or "Lady Macbeth of Mtensk", without the slightest whisper of sanctity though it was composed at the apogee of the Catholic Counterreformation in Italy. The 'lovers' are the tyrant Nero and the beautiful 'commoner' Poppea. Nero's misdeeds are famous enough so that even 21st C Americans remember him as the vilest of the vile, the mad perverted sadist who 'fiddled' while Rome burned. In this opera, dramatized within the classical unity of a single day, Nero orders the suicide-death of his previous favorite, the philosopher Seneca; repudiates his wife Ottavia and sends her afloat in a ship without a rudder; and elevates Poppea to the 'throne' of the Empire. Opera-goers in 1643 would have known, unquestionably, a good deal more of the history; they would have known that Nero stomped Poppea to death after a matter of months; they would have been aware of Seneca's sycophancy and yet have revered him as an ethical philosopher; they would have recalled that Ottone, Poppea's previous lover, survived Nero to become, however briefly, his successor as Emperor. In short, an audience of 1643 would have had every reason to be even more shocked by this opera than we blissfully naive music-lovers of today, for whom it's really just the music that matters. Were they then properly outraged by the 'triumph' of Love over Virtue in Busanello's drama, or were they cynically receptive to evil in high places?

This 2008 Glyndebourne production of L'Incoronazione is suitably outrageous. Unlike various stagings which depict Poppea sympathetically, the portrayal of Poppea by Danielle de Niese is of a cold-hearted sexual adventuress, one who WILL get what she wants... and deserves. Nero is a sadistic sociopath, and Alice Coote is, I think, the first singer/actress to make his perversity totally plausible. There are moments in this production, as there should be, when Poppea and Nero each betray their true feelings, where Poppea's sensuality is exposed as false, where Nero's paranoid cruelty displays itself to her, where each of these conscienceless manipulators lets her/his mask slip, to reveal the dangerous game they are playing. Alice Coote's subtle portrayal of Nero sets this production apart, dramatically, from any other I've seen; she is a convincing Nero, an odious beast. Danielle de Niese's Poppea is likewise dramatically several notches above any other I've seen; she is a sexual predator. Thus there's tension -- drama! -- in their passion; the opera is a struggle between two 'principals' for dominance.

Nerone and Poppea do dominate this staging, but the secondary 'tragedies' of Seneca's suicide and Ottavia's downfall are also made vivid by fine acting, particularly by basso Paolo Battaglia as the philosopher. Seneca's advice to Nero, about public morality, and his stoic acceptance of Death, embracing it as a deliverance to a higher realm, MUST be portrayed with sublimity. Seneca may have been a courtier but he is not a clown. His voice is the counterweight of Busanello's drama; he is, after all, the chosen favorite of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, as proclaimed by Mercury. The smile on Paolo Battaglia's face as Seneca consoles his disciples, before his death, is Oscar-worthy.

There's another counterweight in Busanello's script. It's 'low' comedy: the two old-lady nurses, acted by two aging men in drag; the sarcastic young Valletto; the disaffected soldiers guarding Nero's tryst with Poppea while the Empire goes to the dogs. Every passionate scene in the drama is countered with scurrilous satire. It's the grave flaw in the famous Harnoncourt/Ponnelle production, the pioneering revival of three decades ago, that passion and comedy are not effectively juxtaposed; in Ponnelle's opulent costume staging, Nero is a gaping goofball and all passion is reduced to absurdity. Such is not the case here. Nero and Poppea are deadly serious in their dire affairs. Their lust is no laughing matter, and the ecstasy of their triumphant 'union', expressed in their sublimely beautiful duet at the end of the drama, has to be done 'straight'. Otherwise, our implicit awareness of the transitory nature of their passion and of ever-fickle Love is irrelevant.

Glyndebourne gives us this electrifying drama without much visual "distraction'. The stage is nearly bare throughout -- just a backdrop of scarlet plush curtains -- and the modern costumes are nothing one couldn't buy at a local department store. There's a plethora of lingerie, of languid bedroom behavior, of crotch-rubbing and such. One of Nero's guards 'urinates' against the curtain. Nero sadistically murders the poet Lucan, with the help of his henchman, by drowning him in a bathtub after a scene implying a homoerotic relationship. That's an 'outrageous' interpolation in the libretto, not an interpretation supported by any previous performances. In short, this staging is boldly 'outrageous' -- precisely what conservative opera-goers in the USA deride as "Euro-trash". Right as rain, there is a previous amazon one-star reviewer who expresses that judgment.

But if there is any plausible ground for outrage, to my mind it's not the staging, which is brilliantly coherent and effective. It's the 'liberty' that the singers and the orchestra take with Monteverdi's music that at times seems outrageous. All the singers, but especially Danielle de Niese, stretch and squeeze their phrasings, bend their pitches, wrench their timbres, in order to 'milk' the passion from their sung words, all of which in the score are essentially just ornamented recitativo over basso continuo, interspersed with instrumental ritornelli. No other recording of Poppea, on CD or DVD, makes so free with the music. No other recording prolongs the pauses, the silences after cadences, as this one does. Conductor Emmanuelle Haïm is well known, by now, for her expansive approach to "historically informed" performance. Her style is brash and big, sometimes to the point of coarseness. In this performance, she 'exaggerates' every possible contrast. There's no denying that her interpretation of the music is deliberately subordinate to the drama of words. And it's successful on that footing. The music drives the drama of passions. Any other production of Poppea on DVD, by comparison, will seem to be merely a concert with minor visual enhancements. Whether other listeners will be pleased or outraged by Haïm's manneristic musical results ... well, that's going to be a matter of taste. Personally, I wouldn't choose a CD of Haïm's Monteverdi for purely musical pleasure, but I find this DVD FILM of the opera magnificent and compelling.

Given the froufra about soprano Danielle de Niese, in reviews of her performances of Handel and Mozart, I suppose I have to register some impressions. She is gorgeous, and she brings an intensity as an actress to the opera stage that 'raises the bar' for all other actress-singers. She also moves with the grace of a dancer; her physical presence is so vivacious that any 'stiffer' singers had better beware of getting painfully upstaged. Is she as good a singer as an actress? That is the question. Is her voice as beautiful as her face? I think the answer is no, though I was fully captivated by her voice in her opening scene with Nero, until I heard the next scene, with Tamara Mumford singing the role of Ottavia. Mumford's "instrument" - her sheer voice - was noticeably richer. Pure "voice" isn't the whole issue, of course. Countertenor Iestyn Davies, in the role of Ottone, uses a smallish voice with such expressive control that he holds the listener even against voices of fuller timbre. Danielle de Niese is no slouch, however, at expressive control; her vocal technique in the role of Poppea is quite adequate for the essentially 'dramatic' uses she makes of it. She's perfectly responsive to the conducting of Emmanuelle Haïm, warping and stretching her phrases more to suit the words than the notation. I have to say that I enjoyed her singing, purely as musical noise, in her performance as Cleopatra in Handel's 'Giulio Cesare' at Glyndebourne. But Handel is "all about" entertainment - musical virtuosity - while L'Incoronazione di Poppea delves into deeper themes. I've seen every other DVD of L'Incoronazione on the market -- Harnoncourt/Ponelle, Les Talens Lyriques, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Concerto Köln under Rene Jacobs, and the older Glyndebourne with Maria Ewing as Poppea -- and I'm willing to crown de Niese as the Poppea of our lifetimes.

I don't enjoy being the first voice of dissention with regards to this product; however, I have to state that as much as I loved the conducting and singing, as well as all the technical aspects of the DVD, I really disliked the production. For me, it simply did not work. The modernization of a work that is so entrenched in so specific a time period just came across as positively jarring. I couldn't reconcile the text with the visual. Costumes would suggest 1940's anywhere, a far cry from 1st century Rome. Nerone might as well have been a captain of industry or politician rather than an emperor. Poppea, a screen siren clad in a slinky negligee forever seducing him. Seneca, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, comes across like Nerone's attorney or all around lackey. The color red plays a very prominent role in Act One and though I understand the symbolism behind it, it grew rather tiresome after a while as did Amore's constant skulking about. I don't question anyone's commitment because it's evident throughout and as far as singing and acting are concerned, I can't find fault with this production and the same is true of Emmanuelle Haim's conducting. Danielle de Niese's Poppea is a sight to behold. You can definitely understand why Nerone would utter "I care nothing for the Senate and the People" for the opportunity to have her as his queen. Make no mistake, de Niese's is more than mere window dressing. Her Poppea is a beautifully nuanced characterization; lusty, ambitious, conniving but ultimately doomed. We know from the moment we first see her that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants, even if it means putting herself in grave danger. Alice Coote's Nerone is also marvelously sung even if he does come across, at times, like a petulant brat determined to have his way, regardless of what it may mean to anyone else. The rest of the cast is on par with the stars, especially Paolo Battaglia's Seneca and Tamara Mumford's Ottavia. For a textbook example of how to "modernize" a work without disfiguring it, I highly recommend William Christie's "Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria" from the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Flawless in every respect. To summarize: Production: 1 star - Musicianship - 5 stars - Audio/Video quality - 5 stars.

Everything about this DVD is perfect! The sound quality, the picture and most importantly the sound. This is a heartbreaking opera but one that is an absolute must for people who appreciate all fine things in life.

For all the wonders of this DVD of production of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione de Poppea - and they are plentiful - there is a hidden treasure in this performance. Not that the other reasons of purchasing this DVD are unworthy - quite the opposite. Beginning with the extraordinary conducting of Emmanuelle Haïm who brings her intuitive musicality to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and a cast that is close to perfect, and continuing to the staging concept of Robert Carsen's contemporary style of sets and costumes and sets and direction, this is a Monteverdi opera performance for the ages.

Danielle De Niese is resplendent as Poppea and her portrayal of this strange character is perfectly balanced by the Nero of Alice Coote. Their singing is involving as well as perfectly compatible with the flavor of the drama and the writing of Monteverdi. The beautiful and enormously gift Emmanuelle Haïm proves once again that in this repertoire she is queen. The cast of supporting singers is excellent but the unrevealed secret is the discovery of the extraordinary singing actress Sonya Yoncheva in the relatively small role of Fortune. She is still very young and very beautiful and will likely become the next great star of the opera. She is currently performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the guest direction of Emmanuelle Haïm singing the Handel 'Il delirio amoroso': given the center stage opportunity to display every aspect of her gifts - a combination of physical beauty, magnetic stage presence, and a glorious soprano voice that fills the hall with complete ease - she simply has it all. Perhaps that is the reason so many of us in attendance stood in line at the gift sop to buy this luminous DVD souvenir of Monteverdi, Emmanuelle Haïm, AND Sonya Yoncheva. Watch her rise! Grady Harp, November 11

This Glyndebourne Festival production of Monteverdi's Incoronazione du Poppea is very inventive, in extremely good taste and brings a special charm to the opera.
I had never heard it and I found the music fantastic, all singers of top class quality. I recommend it strongly to all opera lovers. Lucien Castier

like one of the other reviewers, i thought i would hate this, fearing it would be the worst form of "eurotrash". what a delightful surprise, then. i fully concur with the other positive reviewers, who have exhaustively (and much better than can i) covered the impressive elements of this production. i do just want to say what great fun this production is. and danielle de niese is a marvel: her acting kept my attention throughout. indeed, all the performers are top notch. and that final rapturous love duet? i think i repeated it 10 times straight. it is sublime, perfect in every way - worth the price of this DVD alone, just to have it and be able to pop it into the player at any time. this is vying to be one of my favourite filmed operatic performances of all time (after chereau's "from the house of the dead" by janacek - but that's a very different kettle of fish, and not really capable of comparison)

I don't like most of this production. However, the closing duet of this performance, where superb casting provides two well-matched voices in the same tessitura, is the most stunning duet I have ever heard. (I'm getting goose bumps just writing this.) For that alone I recommend this recording.

After hearing this version, it's clear what Monteverdi intended, using castrati to achieve something nigh impossible for us today. OMG