Poppea's Coronation – PREMIERE – Opera

Theater icon Christoph Marthaler stages one of the world's earliest operas as a hard-hitting, topical intrigue.

Poppea's coronation recounts a bloody chapter in Roman history and is full of depraved and immoral characters. 

There are no sympathetic characters in Poppea's coronation. Everyone is prepared to do terrible things for their own gain, and Poppea leads the way with her ambition to become empress, even if it means getting rid of Emperor Nero's wife.

Poppea's Coronation is one of the world's earliest operas, but surprisingly modern in its narrative, with strong characterizations and human emotions in focus. The composer Monteverdi saw the opera genre come into being and move from the intimate circles of the court to public theaters, and he himself was a leading figure in the development of opera as an art form. Poppea's Coronation was his last opera and the culmination of a long compositional life, a gem in the series of early operas.

One of the biggest names in European theater, director Christoph Marthaler, has staged the play with his regular set designer Anna Viebrock. They bring the story into a contemporary universe in a set design that radiates power and human coldness.

Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Concerto Copenhagen are in the orchestra pit, and among the soloists is the internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter in the role of Ottavia.

Poppea's coronation is sung in Italian with Danish subtitles.

In collaboration with Theater Basel

Recommended from age 15