Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea)

One Roman emperor is not enough for conductor Emmanuelle Haïm. After Julius Caesar in Handel’s opera –recorded for Virgin Classics DVD at Paris’ Palais Garnier with Lawrence Zazzo as Giulio Cesare and Natalie Dessay as Cleopatra – she now brings a ruler of less illustrious reputation: Nero (Nerone) in Monteverdi’s sensuous and cruel story of love, ambition and politics, L’incoronazione di Poppea.

This production, recorded in 2012 at the exquisite opera house in Lille, is by the French director Jean-François Sivadier; he was also responsible for La traviata in 2011 at Aix-en-Provence, a staging which starred Natalie Dessay and can be seen on a Virgin Classics DVD.

In Poppea, Sivadier takes a relatively minimalist approach, with the characters in an eclectic mixture of modern and Ancient Roman dress. Nerone, here an almost punk-like figure, with peroxide blond spiky hair, is portrayed by star countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic, who has recently enjoyed major successes with his Virgin Classics recordings of Vinci’s rare opera Artaserse and a recital programme Venezia. Cencic has already appeared on a Virgin Classics DVD of Poppea, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm’s mentor William Christie, recorded in Madrid and released in 2012, but there he played Poppea’s discarded lover, Ottone, a role taken in Lille by British countertenor Tim Mead. Poppea herself is sung here by the glamorous Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, who won Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition in 2010 and is a former member of William Christie’s academy for young singers, Le Jardin des Voix.

Speaking of his approach to the opera, Jean-François Sivadier has said: “Nero’s court is cut off from the world, a place ruled by terror and paranoia, a family in which each member is full of ambiguities. I wanted the audience to be constantly aware of the interdependence of all the characters: each event takes the course of history in a new direction; it is like a chain of chemical reactions between bodies that are sensitive to the slightest change.”

As the French newspaper Les Échos wrote: “The excitement, the passions, the impulses and the hatred to be found in this Shakespearean story are all the more intense [for the sobriety of Sivadier’s approach]. Sonya Yoncheva has no trouble seducing both Nerone and the audience, thanks to her voluptuous roundness of voice and physique. A feline lover, she knows how to flash her claws when she wishes to depose her rival Ottavia, the unhappy woman who, in Ann Hallenberg, finds an interpreter as superb for the nobility of her singing as for her expressions of sorrow ... Max Emanuel Cencic portrays a Nerone who is in thrall to his senses while remaining the pitiless master of his court. Emmanuel Haïm takes the colours and dramatic nuances proffered by her ensemble, Le Concert d’Astrée, and distributes them to fine effect. She takes an active role in Monteverdi’s triumph.” Classica magazine, meanwhile, wrote that: “Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d’Astrée, in fine form, breathe amorously hot and cold over Jean-François Sivadier’s intelligent production, which, typically, favours living beings over decor.”

The culmination of a three-year Monteverdi project led by conductor William Christie and director Pier Luigi Pizzi at Madrid’s Teatro Réal, L’incoronazione di Poppea brings a potent blend of sex and politics, high drama and comedy. Leading the cast are Danielle de Niese as Poppea, Philippe Jaroussky as Nerone, Max Emanuel Cencic as Ottone and Anna Bonitatibus as Ottavia.

William Christie – the French-based American conductor, best known for his work with his ensemble Les Arts Florissants – started 2012 at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, conducting The Enchanted Island, a spectacular new pastiche featuring music by Handel, Vivaldi and other composers,.

Here, he conducts an operatic performance recorded in 2010 at Madrid’s Teatro Réal: Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, with its potent Ancient Roman blend of sex and politics, high drama and comedy. “William Christie’s achievement with Les Arts Florissants is enormous,” wrote Spain’s leading newspaper, El País. “With 17 musicians playing period instruments, he evoked a veritable orgy of nuances, subtly created atmosphere and showed a perfect sense for the accents of the piece.” Poppea proved an apt culmination to Christie’s three-year project mounting Monteverdi’s three operas in Madrid with the Italian director Pier Luigi Pizzi, whose productions are always notable for their elegance and beauty.

Performed in a new edition of the Venetian version of the opera by the musicologist Jonathan Cable, Poppea features a starry cast. Playing the upwardly mobile temptress of the opera’s title is the glamorous American soprano Danielle de Niese, who, in the words of the New York Times, is “seductive enough to woo gods as well as mortals”. She made her international breakthrough at Glyndebourne as another legendary siren of the First Century AD – Cleopatra (in Handel’s Giulio Cesare). In an interpretation described as “overwhelming” by El País, the capricious Emperor Nero (Nerone) is embodied by French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky – in a role very different from the last operatic Roman he took on for Christie, the titular saint in Landi’s Sant’Alessio (Virgin Classics DVD 5099951899998). The brilliant Croatian countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic is a frequent sparring partner for his French colleague – not least in a recent Virgin CD of duetti da camera conducted by William Christie – and in Sant’Alessio he played Jaroussky’s mother (!); here he plays Nerone’s rival for Poppea’s love, Ottone, while Nerone’s discarded wife, Ottavia, is sung by the Italian mezzo soprano Anna Bonitatibus, described by Forumopera as “an incandescent Ottavia who vouchsafed a superb example of singing and of theatre”.

Love conquers all – ruthlessly and irresistibly – as Emperor Nero and his mistress Poppea remove the obstacles to their union. At Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu David Alden’s visually sumptuous production, with its suggestions of a giant game of chess, puts the opera’s potent blend of sex and politics in a context that sets ancient against modern– just as the action juxtaposes scurrilous comedy and stark drama. Monteverdi’s magnificent score, meanwhile, accommodates intrigue, wit, nobility, tragedy and sensuality, and, led by the intense Sarah Connolly and the delectable Miah Persson, the cast brings both drama and music startlingly to life.

Monteverdi's final masterpiece.

Harry Bicket is an internationally renowned early music specialist.

Sarah Connolly recently appeared in the BBC's Opera Italia series, performing a scene from Poppea.

Bicket says of Poppea, 'this is one of the best librettos ever written for an opera.'

Extra features include an illustrated synopsis and cast gallery.

Running time: 183 minutes

Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/ES/Catalan

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

Love conquers all – ruthlessly and irresistibly – as Emperor Nero and his mistress Poppea remove the obstacles to their union. At Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu David Alden’s visually sumptuous production, with its suggestions of a giant game of chess, puts the opera’s potent blend of sex and politics in a context that sets ancient against modern– just as the action juxtaposes scurrilous comedy and stark drama. Monteverdi’s magnificent score, meanwhile, accommodates intrigue, wit, nobility, tragedy and sensuality, and, led by the intense Sarah Connolly and the delectable Miah Persson, the cast brings both drama and music startlingly to life.

Monteverdi's final masterpiece.

Harry Bicket is an internationally renowned early music specialist.

Sarah Connolly recently appeared in the BBC's Opera Italia series, performing a scene from Poppea.

Bicket says of Poppea, 'this is one of the best librettos ever written for an opera.'

Extra features include an illustrated synopsis and cast gallery.

Running time: 183 minutes

Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/ES/Catalan

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

Staged by Ole Anders Tandberg, adapted and filmed by Anja Stabell and Stein-Roger Bull in 2010 at the Norwegian National Opera.

The Coronation of Poppea was the début production from critically acclaimed stage director Ole Anders Tandberg in the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, and he lets blood flow. TV directors Anja Stabell and Stein-Roger Bull reinforces the impact by letting blood’s bright color compete against black and white images. Poppea like you’ve never seen it before!

Special packaging with a high quality slipcase.

At the centre of events is the power-crazed Poppea. She aspires to the top level of the hierarchy and seduces Emperor Nero. He is totally captivated by Poppea and does everything possible to marry her, even if it leads to murder. A classic drama unfolds, where the struggle for power and riches paints an unattractive portrait of humankind. In this respect not much has changed since the opera was written 365 years ago.

Picture format: NTSC - 16:9

Sound formats: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1

Region code: 0

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Japanese, Nowegian

Running time: 180 mins

François Roussillon (TV Director)

Following on from her tremendous 2008 success in Giulio Cesare Danielle De Niese returns to Glyndebourne as the title role of Monteverdi's masterpiece, in a brand new production by acclaimed director Robert Carsen

“wonderfully lucid and unflinching staging… the wonder of conductor Emmanuelle Haïm's work here with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is the way she illuminates the play of Monteverdi's expressive vocal lines with the harmony beneath” The Independent, London

The major debut on Decca DVD of Danielle de Niese. Returning to the opera house where she sang her sensational Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Danielle performs the title role in Monteverdi’s great opera of lust and power, in Robert Carsen’s new, modern-dress staging.

De Niese is perfectly cast as the beautiful and seductive Poppea who ruthlessly grabs power as Nero’s lover but, in this production, is doomed from the moment of her coronation at the end of the opera. De Niese’s performance is vocally and dramatically powerful, perfectly complemented by Alice Coote as Nero. The two are supported by an outstanding cast, together with period-performance stars Emmanuelle Haïm conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Carsen creates an intelligent and visually-strong production, focusing on the personal side of the story. At times the action is violent and shocking, but this is juxtaposed with episodes of lightness and humour.

Filmed in High Definition Widescreen. Extras: Interviews with Danielle de Niese, Emmanuelle Haïm, Robert Carsen. Picture: 16:9. Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese