Monteverdi - L'incoronazione di Poppea / McNair, von Otter, Hanchard, Chance; Gardiner

Claudio Monteverdi (Artist), Anne Sofie von Otter (Artist), Bernarda Fink (Artist), Sylvia McNair (Artist), Dana Hanchard (Artist), Michael Chance (Artist), John Eliot Gardiner (Artist), The English Baroque Soloists (Artist), Constanze Backes (Artist), Catherine Bott (Artist), Marinella Pennicchi (Artist), Roberto Balconi (Artist), Nigel Robson (Artist), Francesco Ellero D'Artegna (Artist), Mark Tucker (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 11, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Archiv Produktion
• ASIN: B0000057F0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,981 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #50 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Otter, Anne Sophie von

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Sinfonia and Prologue

2. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 1, scene 1: 'E pur'io torno qui, qual linea al centro'

3. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 1, scene 2: 'Chi parla? chi parla?'

4. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 1, scene 3: 'Signor, deh, non partire!'

5. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 1, scene 4: 'Speranza, tu mi vai'

6. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 1, scene 5: 'Disprezzata regina'

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 1, scene 11: 'Ad altri tocca in sorte'

2. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 1, scene 12: 'Infelice garzone!' - 'Otton, torna in te stresso'

3. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 1, scene 13: 'Pur sempre di Poppea'

4. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 2, scene 1: 'Solitudine amata'

5. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 2, scene 2: 'Il comando tiranno'

6. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 2, scene 3: 'Amici, è giunta l'ora' - 'Non morir, Seneca, no!' - 'Supprimete

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 3, scene 1: 'O felice Drusilla, o che sper'io?'

2. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 3, scene 2: 'Ecco la scellerata'

3. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 3, scene 3: 'Signor, ecco la rea'

4. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 3, scene 4: 'No, no, questa sentenza'

5. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 3, scene 5: 'Signor, oggi rinasco ai primi fiori' - 'Non più s'interporrà noi

6. L'incoronazione di Poppea, opera in 3 acts, SV 308: Act 3, scene 6: 'Oggi sarà Poppea'

See all 10 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very successful recording, February 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Monteverdi - L'incoronazione di Poppea / McNair, von Otter, Hanchard, Chance; Gardiner (Audio CD)

I just read Matthew Westphal's review and want to disagree. Von Otter is a fine Ottavia, better in my view than, for example, Watkinson or Larmore. I think von Otter is very comfortable with baroque repertory, I'd even say that's her best pitch. I don't much like her lieder interpretations. Her baroque singing is, perhaps, heavier than that of many other baroque singers, but it doesn't suffer from uncontrolled vibrato, which the only reason a "heavy" "operatic" singing is objectionable in baroque. There's nothing wrong with singing baroque in full and luscious voice, as long as the voice is focused well enough to admit of baroque coloratura. So von Otter's off the hook. I will agree with Westphal, however, that some of the minor roles in this recording are sung too "operatically." Still, that's only a small part of the recording. Most of it is delightful. Michael Chance's Ottone has not a single flawed moment. His counter-tenor is beautifully soft-edged and evenly produced, having not a shade of any "counter-tenor glare." Bernarda Fink's Arnalta, with her breath-taking "Oblivion Soave," is the best Arnalta I've heard. Dana Hanchard, with her boyish treble voice, is very credible as Nero, even though I dream to eventually hear this role sung by a high tenor. Actually, it's already been done, Ian Bostridge sang Nero during some festival in 1998, but of course that recording, if it was ever made, is unavailable. Do you ever wonder how much we, the public, lose from the prohibition of recording devices in theaters? Most of Callas's recordings, for example, would never be here if some fans didn't record them live; now that's impossible. Anyway, don't listen to Westphal: of what's out there, THIS is the best Poppea. Also check out Handel's Agrippina, from the same series. Michael Chance is totally stunning as yet another Ottone.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sterling performance that cannot be bettered, April 5, 2003

By 

madamemusico "madamemusico" (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monteverdi - L'incoronazione di Poppea / McNair, von Otter, Hanchard, Chance; Gardiner (Audio CD)

I may possibly be one of the few people reviewing this recording who actually SAW a performance of this opera onstage...and a very fine one it was, too, featuring an outstanding crop of student singers at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music more than 20 years ago. And when you see this opera as well as hear it, you canNOT be emotionally distant or unmoved by its combination of drama, humor, sensuality and heartbreak...it is, in my opinion, one of the few perfect operas ever written, from ANY era. And this recording perfectly captures what I feel is an outstanding performance, certainly the best I have heard on records or off.

We have come a long way from the overblown Raymond Leppard production of 1961. In 1966, a carefully-chosen cast of early music specialists and a stripped-down orchestra taken from the Oakland Symphony made a classic recording for the Cambridge label; at its time it was considered a masterful recording; yet, only Charles Bressler as Nerone, Carole Bogard as Poppea and Herbert Beattie as Seneca really sang their music with feeling and drama.

It is certainly true that performing Montverdi is not like performing Verdi. You cannot exploit your chest voice or high notes in quite the same way. But, I wish to point out, Monteverdi was NOT Lully or one of the Baroque composers, whose music was expected to be sung in a clean but passionless style. Listen to Cathy Berberian's now-classic album of Monteverdi arias with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and you will understand what I mean. You have to sing all the notes and the right style, but to purposely shy away from an emotional reading of the text is sheer folly. As Gardiner pointed out so well in the notes to his recording of "L'Orfeo," Monteverdi knew that his music was emotionally moving and intended it to involve the listener.

There are only two moments where I missed the old Cambridge recording: Seneca's farewell to his students, sung with such tonal beauty and deeply-felt dignity by Beattie, and the final duet where Bogard's creamier voice just soared in the upper register. But as an overall "Poppea," this one is just SO much more involving, and Gardiner performs an even more complete edition (probably discovered after the '66 recording was made). "L'Orfeo" and "Ritorno di Ulisses" may be a little more stodgy and uneven as stage works, but "Poppea" is an unqualified, unquestioned masterpiece that will win over even those who usually resist old music.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent piece, March 23, 2000

By 

A music minor (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monteverdi - L'incoronazione di Poppea / McNair, von Otter, Hanchard, Chance; Gardiner (Audio CD)

I must disagree with Zunino as well. I listened to this recording for a test in a Baroque class and liked it so much that I bought it. While I am not familiar with "correct" It. pronunciation, I do know that this recording follows the Baroque tradition well. McNair is an excellent passionate soprano; her scant use of vibrato reflects the voice control that is necessary in much Baroque music as well as the intimacy between Nero and Poppea that Monteverdi attained in this piece.