Monteverdi: L’incoronazione di PoppeaGran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona

L’incoronazione di Poppea, the historic opera by Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, can be legitimately described as a miracle. Composed in 1642, in the twilight of the opera composer’s life, it was then lost for more than two centuries before two scores eventually turned up in Venice and Naples on the cusp of the 19th / 20th centuries. A miracle indeed.

Accompanied by a libretto by Gian Francesco Busenello, this opera in one prologue and three acts transports us to the ancient Rome of the vain and despotic Nero. It tells the story of the love affair between Nero and his mistress Poppea, whom he wants to crown empress at the expense of his wife Octavia.

Ambition, power, love and betrayal all intertwine in this work, whose timelessness is underlined by Calixto Bieito’s direction and Rebecca Ringst’s set design. Gone are the period costumes and antique sets; here, David Hansen (Nero), Julie Fuchs (Poppea), Xavier Sabata (Otho), Nahuel di Piero (Seneca), Magdalena Kožená (Octavia) and Deanna Breiwik (Drusilla) bring us a resolutely modern production, inviting us to reconsider the questions raised in a previous era in the context of our own.

Filmed on 10 and 12 July 2023 at the Teatre de Liceu, Barcelona.