danielle de niese is poppea

L´Incoronazione di Poppea. DVD. Glyndebourne Festival, June 2008. Production: Robert Carsen. Conductor: Emmanuelle Haim with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Cast: Danielle de Niese (Poppea), Alice Coote (Nerone), Iestyn Davis (Ottone), Tamara Mumford (Ottavia), Paolo Battaglia (Seneca), Marie Arnet (Drusilla), Lucia Cirillo (Valletto), Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (Arnalta), Dominique Visse (Nutrice).

I have always found the libretto to be one of the most impressive features of L´incoronazione di Poppea: Written around 1643, this story of love, desire and power struggle in ancient Rome remains as fresh as anything written today and with a contemporary ring to the many excellently conceived dialogues/monologues. Though the original score does not exist, there is generally agreement that this is  indeed a work by Monteverdi (and not by his students/contemporaries).

It is often discussed whether the morale of this story of Poppea who succeeds with her ruthless schemes and becomes Nero's Empress should be interpreted as a punishment of virtue and/or a victory of love and/or greed. In any case, if you know your Roman history (as Monteverdi no doubt did), the story of Poppea and Nero´s love triumph is indeed hollow, as 1) Nero allegedly kicked Poppea to death a few years later (although disputed by some historians) when she was pregnant with their second child (their first-born died in early childhood) 2) Poppea´s ex-husband Ottone, exiled in the opera, became emperor after the death of Nero (although only for a short while, then he committed suicide) and 3) after passing some time in exile, Nero finally had his ex-wife Ottavia killed.

Robert Carsen explores (again-again) the theatre-within-theatre concept as the main part of the production takes place in front of a velvet dark-red curtain on a naked stage, containing a bed occupied by the various protagonists in turn. Certainly, the production is very elegant, and the opening where the goddess Fortuna kicks out the goddess Virtue from her front-row seat is excellent,  but I still wonder if this spectator-to-ones-own-life concept does not restrict L´Incoronazione di Poppea rather than expand it. The best production I have seen of Poppea still remains DavidMcVicars wonderfully expansive staging, unfortunately not (yet) available on DVD.

Danielle de Niese is virtually perfect as the almost slutty Poppea. Completely insincere in her declarations of love for Nero, she schemes and plots and seems completely to inhabit the character. Vocally, she already shows signs of the shaky intonation and shrill top which is now evident in her performances, but in this production I can hardly imagine a better Poppea. Twenty years from now, we will probably say that this Poppea together with her Cleopatra represented the highlights of her career.

Though Alison Coote does not have the masculinity of a Sarah Connelly, she is a convincingly creepy Nero and vocally quite secure. Tamara Mumford is an expressive and elegant Ottavia and Iestyn Davis and Marie Arnet are sufficiently subdued as Ottone/Drusilla. For me, the only real disappointment was Paolo Battaglia, who neither vocally nor dramatically made a real impact as Seneca.

Among the minor roles, the hilarious Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (some may remember him as a marvellous Witch in Hänsel and Gretel) stood out as Poppea´s nurse Arnalta.

Emmanuelle Haïm with the strange willowy movements in the pit lead an excellent, vivacious performance with the OAE. 

Danielle de Niese and Alice Coote:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Danielle De Niese: 5

Alison Coote: 4-5

Iestyn Davies: 4

Tamara Mumford: 4

Paolo Battaglia: 3

Robert Carsen´s production: 4

Emmanuelle Haïm: 5

Overall impression: 4-5

classic production of rakes progress

Rake´s Progress. DVD. Glyndebourne Festival 2010. Director: John Cox, designs: David Hockney. Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski with London Philharmonic Orchestra. Cast: Miah Persson (Anne Trulove), Topi Lehtipuu (Tom Rakewell, Matthew Rose (Nick Shadow), Elena Manistina (Baba The Turk), Clive Bayley (Anne´s father).

This production has in many ways become a benchmark for The Rake´s Progress. First seen at Glyndebourne in 1975, it has undergone numerous revivals and has even been released on DVD in 1997 featuring Samuel Ramey and Felicity Lott. While the present version looks a bit fresher, I don´t see any compelling reason to acquire this present DVD if you already own the previous one.

No doubt the reason for the popularity and longevity of this production is the extraordinary accordance between the production and Stravinsky´s original work. 

Stravinsky was originally inspired by 1) Mozart and 2) William Hogarth´s 1735 series of eight paintings (later engravings) depicting the life of Tom Rakewell. As most will know, the composition style is neoclassical - Mozart, but not quite Mozart. As for the story line - Don Giovanni but not quite Don Giovanni.

The director is John Cox, but the trademark of the production are the designs by David Hockney. Hockney is a British multi-artist, born in 1937 and famous for his pop art installations in the 1960´s.

He was equally inspired by William Hogarth in creating the sets, which are quite often print-like black and white, with multiple stripes and crosshatching. Complete with period costumes, it is a set evocative of Mozart – but then, just like the music, not quite Mozart. And always with a certain irony and distance, to be found in Stravinsky´s score and the libretto as well.

The “new” singers are all excellent: From Miah Persson´s Anne Trulove, which is both beautifully sung and acted, to Topi Lehtipuu´s convincing portrait of the lazy Tom always seeking the easy way and Matthew Rose as a somewhat ironic Nick Shadow and finally Elena Manistina´s tour de force as Baba The Turk.

Vladimir Jurowski is effective conducting a score, that I find it easy to admire but hard to love.

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Miah Persson: 5

Topi Lehtipuu: 5

Matthew Rose: 4

Elena Manistina: 4-5

John Cox´ production: 5

Vladimir Jurowski: 5

Overall impression: 5