Opera starts new season with Poppea

LYSTER Opera launches its 2023 touring season in Tarnagulla on Saturday.

The performance of Claudio Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea in Tarnagulla will be the first five shows in regional Victoria and at Melbourne’s Federation Square.

Dunolly’s Rachel Buckley will also give a brief talk on the opera written in 1643 for the Venice Festival.

Director James Moffat said opera’s score mysteriously disappeared for over two centuries after its premiere and when it was rediscovered, was met with renewed acclaim.

The story is set on Mount Olympus, where three goddesses compete to establish their supremacy over the mortal world. They set into action the story of the Emperor Nero, who is determined to have his mistress Poppea ascend the throne – but needs to remove a few obstacles along the way, including anyone who might stand in the way.

“Monteverdi’s music is sweeping in its emotion, ranging from humour to romance to revenge,” Mr Moffat said.

““It’s a witty and really theatrical work, so we shouldn’t smother it with too much reverence. It clearly wasn’t intended by its creators to be taken literally. At the same time, we shouldn’t be gimmicky about it. It has survived over the centuries because its story and music are so strong.”

The roles of Poppea and Nero will be sung by soprano Piera Dennerstein and tenor Hew Wagner, with Helen Koehne as the Empress Ottavia, Michael Lampard as Poppea’s discarded lover Ottone and Kerrie Ann