Musical drama in a prologue and three acts. Libretto of Giovanni Francesco Busenello.

Original title: L'incoronazione I gave Poppea (II Nerone).

Personages: Nerón, emperor of Rome (tenor); Octavia, his wife (soprano or mezzo-soprano); Popea (soprano); Otón (counter-tenor or baritone); Séneca (under baritone); Fortune, goddess of the destination (soprano); the Virtue (soprano); the Love (mezzo-soprano); Spades Atenea (soprano); Mercury (tenor); servants of Octavia, Popea servants; partners of banquet of Nerón; soldiers, disciples of Séneca, people, etc.

Place and epoch: Rome, epoch of Nerón.

I argue: Nerón, the powerful emperor of Rome, has fallen in love with Popea, which for him has pushed his ancient lover Otón back. Nerón decides to leave his wife Octavia and sit in the throne to Popea. Séneca, which has re-lit the emperor for his injustice, must die.

Octavia forces Otón to kill Popea. For it he insures himself the affectionate favor of Drusila, raised of Popea. Otón tries to fulfill his mission although his heart is torn between the love and the hate. The Drusila layer puts itself and it approaches Popea, who sleeps. Nevertheless, woken up on time by the Love voice, Popea goes out of his sleep.

Drusila, whose layer they have recognized, is caught and he throws on himself, for love to Otón, all the faults. Then Otón presents before himself. Since he confesses his plan of murdering Popea, also it must discover the one who has entrusted to him the mission. Nerón, which has heard with increasing surprise the autoaccusations of Otón and Drusila, with which each one wants to save to other, changes the death sentence into that of exile. It already has a motive for pushing Octavia back. Happy, it joins in marriage Popea.

Source: Later that in the first decades of the operatic art there were put in music especially topics of the Greek mythology, the ambience of the arguments is extended by means of the inclusion of the classic history. In this case it appears the epoch of Nerón and Séneca, the old Rome between the 54s and 68s of the first century of our age, although the historical facts are not reproduced by accuracy.

Libretto: The lawyer and poet Giovanni Francesco Busenello wrote one free that must be considered to be more a poem than an operatic dramatic sketch. It contains neither rapid dramatic dialogues nor choirs that act, but long and beautiful declamations from the formal point of view, and varied repetitions artistically.

Music: Monteverdi reaches with this work not only the climax of his career, but it gives form also to a musical drama that believes the transit of the Florentine opera, consisted almost exclusively of recitatives and arias, to the baroque opera, with his big arias full of passion. In this work it is possible to find closed musical numbers that with running of the time will impose the long declamation recitativa and then they will eliminate it completely. The Monteverdi music is always excellent and his clear armonías.

History: L'incoronazione say that Poppea is the last work of Monteverdi for the scene. His premiere took place in the Theater Grimano of Venice in the autumn 1642. Also this work was considered to be lost for several centuries: it was re-discovered in 1888 by Taddeo Wiel, and immediately there began the «attempts of recovery», which raised many questions. Only our epoch, especially the mentioned representations of Harnoncourt and Ponnelle in the Opera of Zurick during the seventies of last century, seem to do justice, as this is possible, to the works of the Renaissance and of the Baroque, since they include also ancient instruments, as those that Monteverdi used. It is just as there are considered to be museum pieces of junk three operas of Monteverdi that have come up to us (of the two weeks that probably it composed), since in the fund there are a living art, capable of shaking deeply.

Source: “Diccionario of the Opera ” of Go-cart Pahlen