L’incoronazione di Poppea is Claudio
Monteverdi’s (1567-1643) last opera. It was premiered at Teatro di
Giovanni e Paolo in Venice in 1642 and was given its first professional
production at Glyndebourne in 1962.
The plot, by librettist Busenello, is suggested in the prologue with
the apparent triumph of Love over Virtue and Fortune. Love, reflected
through Nerone’s blind infatuation for the amoral and relentlessly
ambitious Poppea, is powerfully illustrated in one of the most
beautiful love duets ever written at the conclusion of this masterpiece.