Admin

Organization

Singer

Soprano

Sonya Yoncheva

Poppea

Countertenor

Kate Lindsey

Nero

Stéphanie d'Oustrac

Octavia

Carlo Vistoli

Otho

Bass

Renato Dolcini

Seneca

Ana Quintans

Virtue

Drusilla

Contralto

Marcel Beekman

Octavia's Nurse

Friends of Seneca

Dominique Visse

Arnalta

Léa Desandre

Love

The valet

Tenor

Alessandro Fisher

Lucan

Two soldiers

David Webb

Liberto

Padraic Rowan

Lictor

1. Console

Terzo famigliare di Seneca

Virgile Ancely

Mercury

2. Console

Tamara Banjesevic

Fortune

Damsel

Claire Debono

Pallas

Venus

Conductor

William Christie

Stage director

Jan Lauwers

Set designer

Costume designer

Lemm&Barkey

Lighting designer

Ken Hioco

Choreographer

Dramaturge

Elke Janssens

Salzburger Festspiele

Others

Les Arts Florissants

Italian

L'incoronazione di Poppea -  (The Coronation of Poppea)

Salzburg

Austria

Haus für Mozart

Shortly before his death, Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) composed one of the most remarkable operas of all time, the sensual love story L'incoronazione di Poppea. For the first time, the plot of an opera was not based on myths, legends or invented events, as was usual in the Renaissance, but on historical events. Like his contemporary William Shakespeare, Monteverdi brought believable characters to the stage, with human weaknesses and passions. For this purpose, Monteverdi also established the so-called seconda pratica, in which the music became the servant of the text and was guided by the libretto. Action and feeling came to the fore in this way.
Operas tell about the meaning of love and life and the meaning of death. With L'incoronazione di Poppea, Monteverdi presents a very idiosyncratic interpretation of this guiding principle. While the libretto draws on historical figures and events, the opera's grim reality takes a back seat to show voluptuous passion and the triumph of a morally uncaring society where virtue is punished and greed rewarded in one apparent victory of love. Giovanni Francesco Busenello tells in his libretto how Poppea strives by all means for the throne and to become Nerone's wife. Empress Ottavia is deceived and put out of the way; at Poppea's urging, Nerone forces Seneca to commit suicide; after an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Poppea, Ottone is banished into exile and Ottavia is abandoned at sea after her involvement in the assassination plan was revealed. The opera ends with Poppea's coronation as empress. Her lust for the throne has overcome all obstacles.

In the books one can read about the horrific development of the story. His mother had already fallen victim to the murderous Nero. Shortly after Poppaea's coronation, he kicked and killed their child in her womb; Poppaea succumbed to the injuries she sustained. In the end, Nero was forced to commit suicide, and a little later Otho, who had returned from exile, took power in Rome.

With the immoral story about tyranny and intrigue, Monteverdi holds up a mirror to his contemporaries, but he dresses it in the pleasing guise of the most glorious baroque music. Such a story can only take place in a degenerate society, not among civilized people. In Jan Lauwers' interpretation, the reflection has long since become reality. In an era marked by excess and identity crises, where everything is available at any time, reason no longer plays a role. With the Enlightenment, the age of reason, God was declared dead, the gods were taken off their pedestals.
Jan Lauwers, who founded the art collective Needcompany more than 30 years ago together with Grace Ellen Barkey, transfers his unmistakable approach - in which he assigns text, movement, visual arts and music an independent role - this time to the opera genre. In Lauwers' interpretation, the gods atone for their guilt as cripples and the actors literally walk over the corpses of their sins, actions and murders. Greed for power, intrigue, cruelty, brutality and manipulation triumph against a background of baroque beauty.
The joint project by Jan Lauwers & Needcompany and William Christie & Les Arts Florissants focuses on the human body and the physical presence of the singers. Baroque music specialist William Christie has been well acquainted with opera for years. “Showing the triumph of cynicism and evil,” he says, “L'incoronazione di Poppea reflects the contradictions and weaknesses of the human soul in a disturbing yet fascinating way. To me, that feeling comes directly from Monteverdi's score, and to bring it closer to today's audience we have to respect his music as he wrote it.”
Elke Janssens, translation: Eva Reisinger

Production booklet

Further reading