![]() In the meantime, Ottavia orders Ottone to murder Poppea (maybe Ottavia is not so virtuous after all!). Seneca’s stoic acceptance of death stands in marked contrast to Nero and Poppea’s behavior they gleefully celebrate Seneca’s forced suicide. Ottone seeks romantic consolation with another woman, Drusilla, yet the act ends with him still murmuring Poppea’s name.Īct II begins with the god Mercury forewarning Seneca of his death sentence. Moreover, Nero, egged on by Poppea, orders Seneca’s execution. Seneca counsels Ottavia to bear her misfortunes with dignity, and he also advises Nero to honor his wife rather than divorce her Seneca’s advice falls on deaf ears in both cases. Indeed, Ottavia begs the gods for vengeance. ![]() Poppea is almost giddy with excitement because her scheme is working so well, but her servant Amalta cautions her to be wary of the Empress Ottavia. (His guards stand outside her house and gossip while their master is inside.) As the dawn breaks, Poppea extracts a promise from Nero that he will return soon (see Musical Example 1). She abandons her former lover Ottone and seduces Nero. 65, and Poppea’s objective is clear: she wants to become Empress of Rome. The ethical characters-the Empress Ottavia, the wise advisor Seneca-are utterly defeated by the end, while the adulterous Emperor Nero and his mistress Poppea are triumphant throughout. The rest of the opera is, in a sense, the “proof” of Love’s claim, for indeed Virtue does not win in this tale. In the heavens, the Goddesses of Virtue, Fortune, and Love are quarreling, for Love claims to have the most power over mankind and history. Giovanni Francesco Busenello turned to the Roman historian Tacitus for the plot of The Coronation of Poppea, but the opera’s opening “Prologue” is entirely imaginary. Online Plot Summary 1: The Coronation of Poppea Spotify Recording Information: L'Incoronazione di Poppea (2000 Digital Remaster): “Signor, deh, non partire!” and “Speranza tu mi vai” (Poppea/Nerone) By Claudio Monteverdi, Magda László/Richard Lewis/Oralia Dominguez/Lidia Marimpietri/Walter Alberti/Carlo Cava/Frances Bible/Duncan Robertson/Soo-Bee Lee/John Shirley-Quirk/Hugues Cuénod/Dennis Wicks/Dennis Brandt/Gerald English/Elizabeth Bainbridge/Annon Lee Sil, John Pritchard, Sir John Pritchard, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.Spotify Link: ( Musical Example 1 begins at 3:49).Musical Example 1 - The Coronation of Poppea - Claudio Monteverdi / Giovanni Francesco Busenello, 1642 - Act I, Scenes 3 and 4
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