Melissa Heath (Poppea), Andrew Maughan (Nero)
Claudio Monteverdi’s opera L’incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea) is an intriguing tale of how Poppea uses her female charms to seduce her lover Nero for her own gain. She manipulates Nero into divorcing his wife Ottavia so she can marry him and become empress of Rome. When the old philosopher Seneca, who was Nero’s tutor, objects, Poppea gets Nero to force him to commit suicide. The opera ends with the marriage of Poppea and Nero and the goddess of love gloating over the fact that she triumphs over the goddesses of fortune and virtue. It’s not until long after the story ends that both Nero and Poppea pay for their cruelty and ambition. As legend has it Nero, in a fit of rage, kicks Poppea to death while she is pregnant with their second child. Years later he is forced to commit suicide after the Roman Senate turns against him, because of popular revolts against his tyrannical rule, and orders his death.
Written in 1642, Poppea is as compelling today as it was when it was new because of its focus on human drama and for the manner in which Monteverdi expresses emotions realistically. Without question, with Poppea Monteverdi proves he is the greatest opera composer until George Frideric Handel nearly a century later. And the work’s timelessness and impact is evident in the fact that it is still one of the few operas from the Baroque era to be produced with any frequency in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Monteverdi’s opera will be the University of Utah Lyric Opera Ensemble’s spring production. Performances run this Friday and Saturday in Kingsbury Hall.
Michael Scarola, who is the stage director for this production, was first exposed to Poppea about a decade ago when he was asked to direct it at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. But he almost declined the offer. “I had two immediate reactions,” Scarola said in an interview with Reichel Recommends. “My first reaction was that I was not a Baroque expert. My second was that I didn’t think a story about sex and politics would have any impact in Washington, D.C.” But when he sat down with the score and started investigating the piece, he changed his mind. “I was completely blown away by how modern the piece was.”
What really attracted Scarola to the story was that while it uses historical characters, their actions are not limited to a particular period. “All the political backstabbing and sex scandals (in Poppea) are also happening now. Nothing has changed from Nero’s court to today.”
That prompted him to update the opera. “I told (Lyric Opera Ensemble director Robert Breault) about my idea, and he liked it,” said Scarola, who’s basing his concept on what he did in D.C. 10 years ago. “The gods and goddesses will be dressed in 1930s clothes, in evening gowns and tuxedos. Think Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. The others will be wearing contemporary clothes.”
The deities representing fortune, virtue and love open the opera discussing who is most
From left: Malia French (Love), Cait Clawson (Venus)
important. But rather than keeping them as secondary characters, which they actually are in the original, Scarola gives them an almost nonstop stage presence. “It’s really two stories taking place at the same time,” Scarola explained. “The gods (including Venus) are manipulating everything. They’re either physically manipulating what goes on or watching what the humans are doing in the situations they find themselves in.”
Breault, who has just recently returned from Canada where he was in a production of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca with the Edmonton Opera, is thrilled with what Scarola and his youthful singers have accomplished. “(Poppea) is in great shape,” he said. “It’s a complicated production and they’ve done a remarkable job. I’m really pleased with how it’s turning out.”
Adding to the intricacies of the production the work will be sung in Italian with English supertitles, a first for the Lyric Opera Ensemble, and there will be minimal conducting by Jeffrey Price who is overseeing the musical side of the performances from the harpsichord. “Jeffrey has put together a sharp group of players who will be in the pit. But he won’t be conducting. We’ll be doing it as it would have been done in Monteverdi’s time,” said Breault.
Utah Opera, which did Poppea in 1998 and constructed the sets for its production, will be lending them to the Lyric Opera Ensemble. “It’s a strangely wonderful set that works really well,” Breault said. “We’re grateful to Christopher McBeth and Utah Opera for letting us use it.”
“Christopher is a dear friend and colleague and we’re so appreciative of what he’s done for the school,” Scarola added. “He really cares about the people and the art form.”
Breault is hoping that people will come to Kingsbury Hall this weekend to see Poppea. “It’s a fascinating piece and it has some gorgeous music. And emotionally it still works today.”
“We have a dramatically concise production that tells the story in good taste,” Scarola said. “And audiences shouldn’t worry about the old music, because it’s not boring. This is really an exciting show with some very gorgeous music.”
CONCERT INFO:
What: Utah Lyric Opera Ensemble, Claudio Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea
Location: Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah
Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. April 29-30 (running time approximately 2 ½ hours)
Tickets: $10-$20
Phone: 801-581-7100