L'incoronazione di Poppea

Monteverdi’s most sensuous – and scandalous – opera, performed in concert by Laurence Cummings, Academy of Ancient Music and a stellar cast.

Sex, death, and the most dangerous appetite of all – power. The misdeeds of the Emperor Nero and the rise of his mistress Poppea are supposed to be a cautionary tale. But Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea tells the story in music of such drama, such style and such pure, sensuous beauty that it’s hard not to be seduced.

Because after all, power merely corrupts. But love can corrupt absolutely, and no-one understood that better than Monteverdi – the Venetian genius who defined opera as we know it, and whose music still has an irresistible way of getting under your skin. Academy of Ancient Music knows this music like few other groups: feel the passion today, as Laurence Cummings joins a world-class cast that includes Ed Lyon as Nero and Anna Dennis as his deadly lover.

Sung in Italian with English titles