EO Academy: L’Incoronazione di Poppea 2023
10 - 11 MAR 2023, 7:00PM
L’Incoronazione di Poppea
MONTEVERDI
EO OPERA ACADEMY PERFORMANCE
10 - 11 MAR 2023, 7:00PM
Rye Creative Centre, Rye
Marcio da Silva Music Director
Benjamin Riedel Revival Stage Director
Predrag Gosta Harpsichord
Marcio da Silva Harpsichord/Organ
Cédric Meyer Archlute/Baroque Guitar
Edmund Taylor Chris McClain Violin
Pablo Tejedor-Gutierrez Cello
Paul Jenkins Recorder
Alessandra Fasolo Language Coach
Marcio da Silva Academy Director
Helen May da Silva Academy Manager
Cast - Friday 10th March
Rachel Allen Poppea
Dima Bakri Nerone
Hazel Neighbour Ottavia
Jay Rockwell Seneca
Juliet Telford Ottone
Youkyong Song Fortuna / Valletto
Margarita Maria Kevrekidou Drusilla / Virtu
Ana Torbica Amore / Damigella
Oguzhan Engin Arnalta / Liberto
Martina Ganchuk Lucano
Helen May Pallade
Cast - Saturday 11th March
Rachel Allen Poppea
Julia Portela Piñón Nerone
Hazel Neighbour Ottavia / Virtu
Jay Rockwell Seneca
Israel Romero Ottone
Martina Ganchuk Fortuna / Valletto / Lucano
Tara Vankatesan Drusilla
Ana Torbica Amore / Damigella
Oguzhan Engin Arnalta / Liberto
Helen May Pallade
Ensemble OrQuesta Opera Academy is dedicated to the training of the new generation of opera singers. These academies have given many talented young singers from all over the world the opportunity to perform complete roles in fully staged productions, in the original language, with professional ensemble accompaniment.
Singers benefit from ten days of rigorous tuition and training from the Ensemble OrQuesta team of multi-skilled professionals, receiving coaching on technique, language, style, stagecraft, and movement. The carefully planned intensive programme culminates in two public performances. The exceptional quality of these academies - as reflected in consistently appreciative testimonials from participants - has earned EOOA a flourishing reputation as an outstanding international young artist programme.
The academy runs from 1st - 11th March, with full performances on Friday 10th and Saturday 11th at 7pm at Rye Creative Centre.
L’Incoronazione di Poppea.
L’incoronazione, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice during the 1643 carnival season. One of the first operas to use historical events and people, it describes how Poppea, mistress of the Roman emperor Nero, achieved her ambition to be crowned empress. It differed from Monteverdi's other operas because it highlighted the baser natures of humans, rather than the lofty natures of the gods.
L’incoronazione is frequently described as a story in which virtue is punished and greed rewarded, running counter to the accepted conventions of literary principles, raising the classic moral dilemma of not-so-nice characters singing beautiful music. It is the adulterous liaison of Poppea and Nerone which wins the day, although this triumph is demonstrated by history to have been transitory. In Busenello's version of the story all the major characters are morally compromised. From their knowledge of Roman history, audiences in Venice would have recognised that the apparent triumph of love over virtue, celebrated by Nerone and Poppea in the closing duet, was hollow, and that not long after this event Nerone kicked the pregnant Poppea to death. They would have known, too, that Nerone himself committed suicide a few years later, and that others - Ottavia, Lucano, Ottone - also met untimely deaths.
The controversy.
The original manuscript of the score does not exist; two surviving copies from the 1650s (‘Venice’ and ‘Naples’) show significant differences from each other, and each differs to some extent from the libretto. It is now commonly accepted that L’incoronazione as it survives combines the work of various composers, although opinions vary on the precise nature of that mix. Some of the music is almost certainly by Cavalli, and some by Francesco Sacrati. Analysis suggests that the music of the final scene and the music for Ottone may have been written by a different hand, whether working under Monteverdi’s direction or not. However, much of the music rings true to the style of late Monteverdi.
None of the existing versions of the libretto, printed or manuscript, can be definitively tied to the first performance at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo, the precise date of which is unknown and there is no record of the opera's initial public reception. Despite these uncertainties, the work is generally accepted as part of the Monteverdi operatic canon, his last and perhaps his greatest work. Following its 1643 premiere the opera was revived in Naples in 1651 but was then neglected until the rediscovery of the score in 1888, after which it became the subject of scholarly attention in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Synopsis.
Prologue
The goddesses Fortune, Virtue and Amore argue over which of them holds greater power over humankind. Amore claims to be master of the world and declares that once they have heard her story, they will abandon their claims.
Act I
Poppea’s palace
Ottone arrives at the palace of his beloved Poppea (‘E pur io torno qui, qual linea al centro’) with intentions to pursue his love, only to discover that Poppea and Nerone lie within together. His love song turns to a lament. He sees Nerone’s soldiers outside, asleep. The soldiers are aroused and complain about their job and the decline of Rome (‘Sia maledetto Amor, Poppea, Nerone’). They feel sorry for Empress Ottavia being so badly treated.
Nerone enters with his mistress: they take a sensuous farewell as Poppea emphasises her love for him (‘Signor, sempre mi vedi’) and seeks to guarantee their marriage. She is left alone with her nurse, Arnalta, who warns her to be careful of the empress's wrath and to distrust Nerone's apparent love for her. But Poppea, arrogantly confident of his affection, dismisses her warnings., for Amore and Fortuna are on her side (‘Per me guerreggia Amor e la Fortuna’). Arnalta is left to grumble at his mistress’s folly (‘Ben sei pazza, se credi’).
City of Rome
The scene changes to focus on Ottavia who despairs at her humiliation (‘Disprezzata regina’) while her nurse (Nutrice) suggests that she should take a lover (‘Se Neron perso ha l’ingegno’). Seneca, Nerone's former tutor, addresses the empress with flattering words, and is mocked by Ottavia's page, Valleto, who threatens to set fire to the old man's beard. Left alone, Seneca reflects on power and the transitory nature of life (‘Le porpore regali e imperatrici’). The goddess Pallade appears to warn him of his impending death. Seneca welcomes the news.
Nerone enters and confides in Seneca that he intends to repudiate Ottavia and marry Poppea (‘Son risoluto insomma’). Seneca urges reason: such a move would be divisive and unpopular. Nerone is angered by this. Poppea tries to calm him down (‘Come dolci signor, come soavi’) but warns that Seneca claims to be the power behind the imperial throne. When Seneca persists in urging reason, Nerone furiously dismisses him.
After Nerone leaves, Ottone emerges and confronts Poppea over her infidelity (‘Ad altri tocca in sorte’). He unsuccessfully attempts to rekindle Poppea's affections for him. Arnalta feels sorry for the poor man (‘Infelice ragazzo!’). He tries to come to his senses (‘Otton, torna in te stesso’) but when all else fails he vows revenge. He is then comforted by Drusilla, a noblewoman. Realising that he can never regain Poppea's affections, he offers to marry Drusilla, who joyfully accepts him. But Ottone admits to himself: ‘Drusilla is on my lips, Poppea is in my heart.’
Act II
Seneca’s villa
Seneca praises stoic solitude. The god Mercury appears, warning him again of death which the philosopher accepts happily (‘Oh me felice, adunque’). Liberte enters with Nerone’s command that Seneca must die by the end of the day and is impressed by the philosopher’s calmness in response to it all (‘Mori, e mori felice’). Seneca gathers his famigliari around him; they try to persuade him to remain alive (‘Non morir Seneca’), but he is determined. ‘The warm current of my guiltless blood shall carpet with royal purple my road to death.’
City of Rome
At the palace Ottavia's page Valletto flirts with Damigella, a lady-in-waiting. Nerone and the poet Lucano celebrate the news of the death of Seneca with wine and song (‘Hor che Seneca è morto), praising Poppea’s beauty (‘Son rubini pretiosi’).
Ottone, in a long soliloquy, ponders how he could have thought to kill Poppea with whom he remains hopelessly in love (‘Sprezzami quanto sai’). He is interrupted by a summons from Ottavia who, to his dismay, orders him to kill Poppea. Threatening to denounce him to Nerone unless he complies, she suggests that he disguise himself as a woman to commit the deed. Ottone agrees to do as she bids, privately calling on the gods to relieve him of his life. Drusilla delights in her love for Ottone (‘Felice cor mio’), and Ottavia’s nurse wishes she were in his place (‘Il giorno femminil’). Ottone explains to Drusilla his plans for Poppea and persuades her to lend him her clothes.
In her chamber Poppea rejoices in Seneca’s death (‘Hor che Seneca è morto’) and prays for Amore to support her; Arnalta then lulls her to sleep (‘Oblivion soave’). Amore watches overhead, proclaiming her power to protect humankind (‘O sciocchi, o frali’), as Ottone enters dressed as Drusilla and tries to kill Poppea. Amore prevents the deed; Poppea wakes and gives the alarm as Ottone escapes. Amore boasts of her success (‘Ho difeso Poppea’).
Act III
Drusilla joyfully anticipates Poppea’s death and the life of happiness before her (‘O felice Drusilla, oh che sper’io’), but Arnalta identifies Drusilla as Poppea's assailant, and she is arrested. As Nerone enters, Arnalta denounces Drusilla, who protests her innocence. Threatened with torture unless she names her accomplices, Drusilla decides to protect Ottone by confessing her own guilt. Nerone commands her to suffer a painful death, at which point Ottone rushes in and reveals the truth: that he had acted alone, at the command of the Empress Ottavia, and that Drusilla was innocent of complicity.
Nerone banishes Ottone while praising Drusilla as a model of womanly behaviour. Drusilla asks to go into exile with him. Ottone accepts the punishment with glad heart (‘Signor, non son punito, anzi beato’). Now that Ottone has implicated Ottavia in the affair, Nerone has the excuse he needs, and he banishes her too. He and Poppea rejoice that the way is now clear to their marriage (‘Non più s’interporrà noia o dimora’). Ottavia enters and, in a lament, bids a halting farewell to her home and friends (‘Addio Roma, addio patria, amici addio’). Arnalta revels in the exaltation of his mistress as empress of Rome (‘Oggi sarà Poppea’).
In the throne room of the palace the coronation ceremony for Poppea is prepared. Nerone crowns Poppea (‘Ascendi, o mia diletta’) and the consuls and tribunes pay homage. Amore proclaims her triumph to the approval of her mother Venere (‘Io mi compiaccio, o figlio’). Nerone and Poppea sing a final ecstatic love duet (‘Pur ti miro, pur ti godo’).
Monteverdi and opera - ‘un sol vero’.
More than half of Monteverdi’s operas are lost to us. The three on which we build his current reputation – L’Orfeo (1607), Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria (1640), and L’incoronazione di Poppea (1643) are strikingly different.
Ritorno and L’incoronazione were one and three in a trilogy of Venetian operas written by Monteverdi in his twilight years. The middle ‘ghost’ opera – Le Nozze d’Enea e Lavinia – is much talked of in written sources but did not survive. Fans of Monteverdi may already have dipped into the research of American musicologist Ellen Rosand, which greatly enhances our understanding of L’incoronazione and its place in this trilogy.
One of the most distinctive aspects of these three operas is that their librettos were written specifically for Monteverdi as part of an effort to lure him back to music theatre, from which he had been conspicuously absent for some time. In 1640 the nobleman Giacomo Badoaro prefaced his libretto to Ritorno with an open letter explaining that he had embarked on his libretto for the sole purpose of tempting the composer out of his operatic retirement. Until now, he explains, the emotions Venetian audiences had seen portrayed on stage had left them cold and unmoved, because they were warmed by a painted sun; only the great master Monteverdi, the true sun, radiates sufficient heat to really ignite the passions.
Yet opera in Venice was flourishing in 1640. From 1637 the Teatro di San Cassiano and a succession of newly constructed theatres had resounded to the success of operas produced by Benedetto Ferrari, Francesco Manelli, and Francesco Cavalli in a burst of frenetic activity. Monteverdi – in his seventies, in religious orders, and in position as maestro di capella - seemed initially reluctant to join the commercial stampede.
But the sight of the new librettos did serve to galvanise Monteverdi - he responded with a surge of activity, ultimately producing three new operas in three years. Ritorno was an immediate success: ten crowded and enthusiastic Venetian performances, performances in Bologna, and unheard-of re-runs the following year. Another personally conceived libretto was then sent to Monteverdi by an aristocratic fan: the libretto for Le Nozze – most probably written by Michelangelo Torcigliani – was based on the Aeneid, just as Ritorno had been based on the Odyssey, and was a sequel to it, purposefully continuing its grand narrative.
Operas of the time often sought to convey profound political messages by dramatic means. Ellen Rosand points out that recognising the placing of L’incoronazione as the third opera in the Venetian trilogy enhances understanding of its message. Ritorno contains a Greek story which follows from the destruction of Troy, Le Nozze contains a Latin story that deals with the founding of Rome, L’incoronazione, tells of downfall following the moral weakening of the Roman Empire whose greatness will live again in the magnificent republic of Venice. The Nozze libretto articulates the Venice myth - ‘I see with the passing years a city proudly raise its wings to the stars.’ Thus, Ritorno to L’incoronazione is a Troy-Rome-Venice mythic history. In choosing these three librettos Monteverdi was following the cultural mainstream of Venetian opera at the time. In 1641, for example, four out of five operas performed in Venetian theatres were based on Homeric and Virgilian themes, peddling different stages of the Venetian genealogical myth.
The concept of the trilogy does not falter because the constituent librettos were written by different authors. The three librettists were part of a coherent intellectual group and were well-known to each other. The libretto for L’incoronazione was written by Francesco Busenello. Badoaro and Busenello were life-long friends, and Badoaro was also friends with Torcigliani. All three were members of the Accademia degli Incogniti – the most important literary academy in Venice where aristocratic writers debated moral, social, and political issues in weekly meetings and in written publications. The group were strongly patriotic and committed to the welfare and fame of the republic, and many wrote operas.
Both Badoaro and Torcigliani emphasised Monteverdi’s role in shaping their original librettos – they commented that they concentrated on the affections and avoided abstruse thoughts and concepts in deference to Monteverdi’s wishes. Of the trio of librettists, Busenello was by far the more skilled dramatist, already having two operatic texts to his credit. However, despite his experience, he too attended carefully to Monteverdi’s preferences. Although Busenello makes no specific mention of modelling the text to suit Monteverdi he must have done so, since this libretto differs markedly to his two previous librettos and two later ones written for Cavalli.
Yet despite their efforts the many alterations and revisions which Monteverdi made on the different texts shows that each of the librettists did not always present material that matched Monteverdi’s exacting standards. Monteverdi was a skilled musical dramatist - fastidious textual selections balanced with nuanced melodic lines and rich harmonic choices ensured vivid characterisations and resonant human interactions.
L'Incoronazione – breaking new ground?
Written when the genre of opera was only a few decades old, the music for L’incoronazione has been praised for its originality, its melody, and for its reflection of the human attributes of its characters. The opera broke new ground in matching music to stage action, in its musical reproductions of the natural inflections of the human voice, in the use of the violin to mirror and match the new flexibility of vocal writing, and in the attempts to notate new metrical and rhythmic relationships.
Monteverdi was certainly valued as a composer in his own time, although he was not dubbed a genius. Contemporaries praised him for his ‘variety of output’, for his ‘musical way of moving some particular emotion in the breasts of men’ (Matteo Carbeloti), and for his ability to outshine his contemporaries. It is also true to say that the progressive trajectory model tracked in later ‘great’ composers is apparent in Monteverdi’s musical development - Cremona (1567-90), Mantua (1590-1612), and Venice (1613-43). However, along with other contemporaries, Monteverdi indulged in imitations, emulations, the re-working of ‘derived’ material, day-to-day collaborations, cross-borrowings, and skeletal scoring that relied heavily on improvisational practice. It cannot be proved that Monteverdi wrote all the music within the scores we study and hear - he clearly didn’t. Yet, despite lively debates about authorship, L’incoronazione is treated as ‘Monteverdi's’.
How do we evaluate Monteverdi’s significance?
Monteverdi’s own perception is interesting. He stated in a letter of 23 October 1633 that ‘I would rather be moderately praised for the new style than greatly praised for the ordinary.’ This suggests an awareness that he is breaking new ground, though as a contracted employee tied to social constraints, his would surely be an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary pathway. We do know that he was sensitive to his position in the compositional world, both from his attention to the work of his contemporaries and more directly his attempts to articulate and justify his own ideas in various ‘manifestos’ issued over a period of more than thirty years.
In L’incoronazione Monteverdi uses all the means for vocal expression available to a composer of his time - aria, arioso, arietta, ensemble, and recitative. The boundaries between these forms are flexible, with elements being woven into a continuous fabric so that the music always serves the drama, while a formal tonal unity is maintained. The musical style is sensuously melodic, brimming with closed forms, and offering a more realistic portrayal of characters than heretofore. Each character has strong emotions, fears, and desires which are reflected in the variety of their music. Outstanding musical peaks include the final duet (despite disputes regarding its authorship), Ottavia's Act 1 lament, Seneca's farewell and the ensuing madrigal, and the thrilling florid synchronous coloratura of the Nerone-Lucano duet which is often performed with strong homoerotic overtones. The drama includes tragic, romantic, and comic scenes (new for opera at that time). The combination of all these attributes established Monteverdi as the leading musical dramatist of his time.
In his observations about this opera Nikolaus Harnoncourt expressed astonishment at: ‘the mental freshness with which the 74-year-old composer, two years before his death, was able to surpass his pupils in the most modern style and to set standards which were to apply to the music theatre of the succeeding centuries.’ Mark Ringer proposes that the opera is a unified masterpiece of ‘unprecedented depth and individuality’.
