L’incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi, vr. 29 jul 2022, Van (2022/2022), Geregisseerd door Márcio da Silva, Dirigent Márcio da Silva, Arcola Theatre, Londen, Verenigd Koninkrijk

Following last year’s highly acclaimed production of Alcina – ‘Handel stripped down and brilliant,’ named No 4 in The Guardian’s ‘Top ten classical music performances of 2021’ – Ensemble OrQuesta returns to the Grimeborn Festival for the fifth time, this time with their 5-star production of Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea. Achieving the highest artistic standards, these musically authentic performances offer a gripping modern interpretation of a 17th-century gem. The power games and machinations of Ancient Rome and timeless themes of ambition, love, and lust are explored through glorious music and carefully crafted character interactions to create a fusion hailed as ‘intimate, sensual, dramatic, and compelling’. With fine early career artists leading the cast, this will indeed be ‘hot stuff’ (@Yehuda Shapiro, EO Poppea, 2019)