Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Bogotá, 24 May 2025
Claudio Monteverdi: L’incoronazione di Poppea
L’incoronazione di Poppea, which premiered in Venice in 1643, was Monteverdi’s final opera. The fact that he was already a priest by then makes it all the more intriguing that he created a work so full of human corruption, political intricacies and eroticism. Arguably the most important pioneer in the development of opera, Monteverdi remained innovative until the end of his life and career. Poppea was one of the first operas to focus entirely on historical events rather than mythology, which had previously been the norm.
As with many operas from the early Baroque period, there are several different versions of Poppea. The version presented at the Teatro Mayor was based on a 1647 production of the work performed in Paris under the title Il Nerone. This version is notable for its omission of the famous final duet, ‘Pur ti miro, pur ti godo’. This version of Poppea has frequently been staged in France by the early music ensemble Le Poème Harmonique, under the musical direction of Vincent Dumestre. This performance marked the ensemble’s first time presenting the opera outside of France. Despite their small size, they produced a rich, cohesive sound. With only nine musicians in the pit, the result was distinctive, and their strong rapport with the conductor was clearly evident.
The two leads were fantastic. Rising Colombian mezzo-soprano Andrea Niño, with recent appearances at La Scala and the Rossini Opera Festival, brought a lush voice and excellent acting skills to the role of Poppea, crafting a character who was both manipulative and sensuous yet sensitive. Chilean mezzo-soprano Luciana Mancini was a powerful Nerone — her voice was full of punch and strength, and her masculine, dictatorial demeanour made the character entirely believable. Yerlandín León (Ottavia), Agustín Pennino (Ottone), Álvaro Carrillo (Seneca) and Fernando Escalona (Arnalta) also delivered standout performances in an all-Latin American cast.
The stage direction was handled by Pedro Salazar, a frequent collaborator of the Teatro Mayor. The combination of modern and classical elements worked very well, and the screen dividing the stage in two added depth to the staging, featuring an octagonal door that connected the two spaces. Salazar’s vision for the character was clearly communicated through the choice to portray Nerone with a massive portrait of himself in the style of a 20th-century dictator and to fill his office with eccentric items such as statues, caged birds and a life-sized leopard figure.
At the end of the opera, after the final curtain call, stage director Salazar gave a politically charged speech which many people, myself included, found out of place. It didn’t feel like the right moment or setting for such a message. I had never seen a stage director take the spotlight from the musicians at the end of an opera before. Fortunately, once he had finished, the ensemble returned to their places and performed ‘Pur ti miro, pur ti godo’ (cut from this version of Poppea) alongside Andrea Niño and Luciana Mancini, ending the evening on a high note.
