Monteverdi’s operatic language wanted to fully express the feelings of human beings. Monteverdi believed that music should make people cry, not discuss. That music should not follow rigid rules, but should give space to the human condition and express it.
Much of Baroque Opera to me sounds like little more than organized grunting. The big exception is the final duet from Monteverdi's (not to be confused with the Verdi of centuries later!) "The Coronation of Poppea." This version, with one of the singers in a trouser role, is magnificent!
The NYC Opera did a notable POPPEA. But the Baroque Opera productions by Nicholas Harnoncourt did a great recorded series of much of Monteverdi. LaScala tried a version of Vivaldi's TITO MANLIO that was a hard slog in Milan. It has taken many years to more fully understand how to restage these works, both with profound success and failure along the way.
Now that we are emerging from the pandemic underground like so many cicadas, I will reorganize my priorities to make Opera Daily a top priority, rather than a last-minute scramble before a new post is published. I am thrilled to have discovered and fallen in love with "Pur ti miro, pur ti godo" from Act 3, Scene 8 of Claudio Monteverdi's "L'Incoronazione di Poppea".
That this is a foundational work in opera, written in 1643, simply blows my mind. It's like peering through a telescope, back into time, at the origins of the universe. Nearly four centuries later, the story and the music still appeal to modern sensibilities. This may explain why I have been listening obsessively to performances of this duet, while also reading about Monteverdi, his historical Roman subjects, and a few contemporary performers of baroque opera.
It seems incongruous that this exquisite music marks the "happy ending" of a story based on the lechery of Emperor Nero (37-68 A.D.) and the ambition of the courtesan Poppea (Poppaea Sabina The Younger [30-65A.D] who became his Empress). History and opera, with their focus on the human condition, sometimes rhyme. So it was that I realized that Monteverdi's opera was echoed in Donizetti's "Anna Bolena" despite being almost two centuries apart.
For those interested in the explorations of this opera nymph, here are a few links:
Max Emanuel Cenčić (countenor) Sonya Yoncheva (soprano)❤
beautiful singing - a few unexpected moments
Much of Baroque Opera to me sounds like little more than organized grunting. The big exception is the final duet from Monteverdi's (not to be confused with the Verdi of centuries later!) "The Coronation of Poppea." This version, with one of the singers in a trouser role, is magnificent!
The NYC Opera did a notable POPPEA. But the Baroque Opera productions by Nicholas Harnoncourt did a great recorded series of much of Monteverdi. LaScala tried a version of Vivaldi's TITO MANLIO that was a hard slog in Milan. It has taken many years to more fully understand how to restage these works, both with profound success and failure along the way.
Now that we are emerging from the pandemic underground like so many cicadas, I will reorganize my priorities to make Opera Daily a top priority, rather than a last-minute scramble before a new post is published. I am thrilled to have discovered and fallen in love with "Pur ti miro, pur ti godo" from Act 3, Scene 8 of Claudio Monteverdi's "L'Incoronazione di Poppea".
That this is a foundational work in opera, written in 1643, simply blows my mind. It's like peering through a telescope, back into time, at the origins of the universe. Nearly four centuries later, the story and the music still appeal to modern sensibilities. This may explain why I have been listening obsessively to performances of this duet, while also reading about Monteverdi, his historical Roman subjects, and a few contemporary performers of baroque opera.
It seems incongruous that this exquisite music marks the "happy ending" of a story based on the lechery of Emperor Nero (37-68 A.D.) and the ambition of the courtesan Poppea (Poppaea Sabina The Younger [30-65A.D] who became his Empress). History and opera, with their focus on the human condition, sometimes rhyme. So it was that I realized that Monteverdi's opera was echoed in Donizetti's "Anna Bolena" despite being almost two centuries apart.
For those interested in the explorations of this opera nymph, here are a few links:
Max Emanuel Cenčić (countenor) Sonya Yoncheva (soprano)❤
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SuzLj2aoys&t=18s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oADm9_KUc1I
Max Emanuel Cenčić: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Emanuel_Cen%C4%8Di%C4%87
Sonya Yoncheva: https://sonyayoncheva.com/biography/
Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor), Danielle De Niese (soprano)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_isL0E-4TsQ&t=59s
Phillipe Jaroussky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Jaroussky
Danielle DeNiese: https://danielledeniese.com/2018/09/04/the-heart-of-an-opera-soprano/
SarahConnolly (mezzo-soprano), Miah Personn (soprano)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ofmpKs9qQ
Dame Sarah Connolly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Connolly
Miah Personn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miah_Persson
I could go on, especially about my fascination with the countertenor voice, but I'll do you a favor and stop right here.🤐