Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea is about a love affair that defies all moral and social rules: Emperor Nero, a dissolute weakling, rejects his lawful wife to make his calculating mistress, Poppea, empress; the betrayed empress then instigates Poppea's cuckolded husband to murder the gold-digging upstart. This opera is not about love, but about ambition, libido, and ruthlessness. With a cynicism that is unparalleled in the history of opera, the librettist, Francesco Busenello, has disavowed all of his characters. And so the opera's conclusion can only be described as the apotheosis of sarcasm: The adulterers triumphant on the Roman throne; the murderer and his new companion happily united; the author of the attempted murder dripping with self-pity. Monteverdi was more merciful in this respect: his music restored the dignity of the characters, who had been depicted as grotesques of late Roman decadence, and allowed us to glimpse their hidden feelings, their hopes and fears.
[Poppea, anonymous]
To see how opera had evolved during Monteverdi's lifetime, compare Orfeo (1607) with L'incoronazione di Poppea (1643). The "recitar cantando" is still there, but it is mixed with madrigals and an embryonic form of the aria. The linking recitatives have been accompanied by keyboard, viola da gamba, or lute. I don't think any music lover will regret this change - the recitative-based early operas, with their lack of striking melodies, can become monotonous. This change was caused by commerce: opera had left the palaces and salons of the aristocracy and moved to the theater on a commercial basis - anyone who bought a ticket had access. In the commercial city of Venice, opera was for sale, and the city had dozens of opera houses. Not only composers, but also singers and, above all, impresarios became important in this new public genre. This also led to a new kind of operatic entertainment. The audience for opera, drawn from the carnival crowds that swelled the city's population each year, was unusually large; it was also unusually diverse.
Poppea is the first opera about historical figures, portrayed with biting realism as beings driven by political ambition and sensual love in the year 65 CE. This is a clear break with the morality of earlier decades - in the courtly opera of the 1600s such a subject would have been unthinkable.
Monteverdi's last opera premiered in the fall of 1642 at the Theatre SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. The libretto is by the Venetian lawyer Francesco Busenello (rather freely) after the Annals of Tacitus, with Suetonius and others as secondary sources.
Two different manuscript scores exist, which were probably used in the 1651 re-enactment in Naples (the scores used in Venice during the carnival 10 years earlier have been lost - no one bothered to preserve them). It is now widely believed that not all of the music was originally by Monteverdi, but that these scores contained interpolations by other composers. Two handwritten libretti have survived, along with a printed copy from 1646, which Busenello is said to have created himself. The latter libretto is incomplete; in particular, the final duet of the third act is missing.
[Bust of Poppaea Sabina at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme]
Historical realism is low. Historically, there has never been an attempted murder of Poppaea Sabina, the character on whom Poppea is based. But the opera includes a wide range of human emotions, especially those that make good music, such as love, hate, jealousy, fear, and (especially) unbridled sexual desire. In addition, lower-class comic characters ridicule the quarrels of their noble principals.
In the prologue, Fortune, Virtue, and Amor vie for omnipotence over gods and men. Amor wins, and that very day promises to show how far his influence extends.
In the opera, the Roman emperor Nero is in love with the courtesan Poppea and wants to marry her and disown his lawful wife Ottavia. The plot is thickened by further love entanglements and by a disapproving moral philosopher, Seneca. Seneca finds Nero's plans morally and politically reprehensible and is forced to pay for his opposition with his life. The desperate Ottavia decides to have Poppea killed and blackmails Otho, Poppea's cuckolded husband, into carrying out the attempt. Otho enlists the help of Drusilla, whom he left for Poppea. Torn between love and resentment, Otho, disguised in Drusilla's cloak, sneaks up on Poppea as she sleeps. The murder is thwarted, however, by Amor, who promises to have Poppea crowned empress that very day. Drusilla, whose cloak is recognized, is arrested and taken to Nero, who interrogates her harshly. To protect Otho, she takes all the blame. When Otho hears this, he tells the true story. Otho is banished, and as a reward for her loyalty, Drusilla is allowed to accompany him. Nero now has good reason to disown Ottavia and banish her from Rome forever. Poppea is crowned empress, and in a euphoric final duet, Nero and Poppea sing of their love.
[John William Waterhouse - The Remorse of the Emperor Nero
after the Murder of his Mother]
With biting irony, the opera paints a very negative picture of the rulers. The story is very different from the one in Tacitus. In Tacitus there was just one good-for-nothing scoundrel full of murderous lust: Poppea. But in Bussenello/Monteverdi, everyone gets a slap on the wrist. Ottavia, in particular, who was previously nothing more than a victim, turns out to be a murderous schemer who rivals Poppea. Seneca is not only a worthy philosopher, but has the features of a trembling graybeard. And where is Nero's cruelty? The murder of his own mother, which he commits in order to marry Poppea, is covered up. It is an amoral game with unpredictable outcomes; it ends with Nero and Poppea shamelessly singing their love, having achieved their goal. Only the winner counts, and they (Nero and Poppea) are the embodiment of political ambition and sensual love. (There is a terrible, grim irony here for those who know their history: the historical Poppea was kicked to death by Nero while pregnant with his child. In that sense, Poppea is not a celebration of murder and lust, but rather a cautionary tale).
Monteverdi's music adds depth and contrast to the libretto. The variety of characters and moods is musically staged in a very expressive way, with music that is more lyrical and contains more arias than before. Nero and Poppea use the form of arioso, aria and duet in 3/4 time to express their lyrical outpourings filled with joy. Ottavia speaks in sharply etched recitatives to express her anger. Otho's music seems to lack a core, hesitant and limited as he yields to Ottavia. Seneca is finally brave as he stoically faces his death. The final love duet, incidentally, was not part of the first performance of Poppea and was added later, either by Monteverdi himself or by other hands. It works beautifully as a finale (there were no choruses yet) and would become a staple in other operas.
It's an ugly story, but aren't there plenty of similar things going on around us, where people who brazenly cheat the system too often get away with it?
Poppea is the greatest achievement of Venetian opera.
Libretto PDF.
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