Building A Library. Radio 3.Sat. 9.30. Monteverdi - The Coronation of Poppea. Even Homer nods and, in Monteverdi s last and arguably greatest opera, Seneca yawns. This is promptly mimicked by his page employing a languorous vocal portamento and, indeed, the lower orders are given the best tunes as when Poppea s nurse preens herself in anticipation for her charge s promotion to queen. This humour is all the more welcome as, in his later operas, a great deal hinges on the conductor and performers improvisation and embellishment. So much has gone astray during centuries of transit such as tempo markings and sinfonias and ritornellos that the intrepidity of interpreters is of the essence. René Jacobs with his Concerto Vocale and a splendid cast, on Harmonia Mundi, manage to flesh-out these omissions with verve and imagination while never forgetting that this is opera in its tentative infancy. Danielle Borst is a seductive Poppea playing Nero, Guillemette Laurens, like a fiddle while he burns with passionate love and petulant pique. This is an opera in which illicit love triumphs over natural right and justice and among the casualties are the philosopher, Seneca, who is slaughtered and the Empress, Octavia, who is banished. In J.E. Gardiner s account on Archive, it is the Octavia of Anne Sophie von Otter that provides the highpoint for me. Here the role of Nero is sung by a counter-tenor, Dana Hanchard, thereby obviating the confusion of having two mezzo-sopranos as the royal couple! Ritornellos are supplied by Peter Holman using the original bass-lines which is a plus. You can also view von Otter on DVD in the trouser-role of Nero with her nurse, Arnalta, played in drag by Jean-Paul Fourchécourt if the gender mix-up is not too much for you. This is a beautifully costumed production from the Aix-en-Provence Festival, 2000, (Bel Air) with Marc Minkowski having Les Musiciens du Louvre add instrumental interludes by the composer s associate, Biaggio Marini. I occasionally enjoy returning to Richard Hickox and The City of London Sinfonia if only to relish the dramatic and vocal coloratura of Arleen Augér in the title role but Hickox s take on this red-blooded, high-cholestorel drama is curiously monotone with pared-down continuo accompaniment. The exact reverse is the case with my own personal favourite recording which comes from Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his wonderful period ban, the VCM on Teldec. This is a high-octane account that, however riddled it is with his signature idiosyncrasies, never fails to point the vicissitudes of love on the (Roman) Stock Exchange as allegiances are switched and defunct shares discarded and replaced. Emotions are exploited to the full and Elizabeth Södeström, as Nero, is cock-of-the -roost in the barnyard where his hens vie for his affections! Helen Donath is a cleavage-popping Poppea and even cameo roles are assigned to the likes of Philip Langridge and Cathy Berberian. There is a complete performance By Harnoncourt on YouTube but it is a Zurich production that comes nowhere near his earlier traversal so I have left you with Arleen Auger and Della Jones in their meltingly beautiful duet.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 16:07:56 +0000
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