Posted: 7/9/2019
Many thanks to Howard Goodall, who brought this to my attention in his excellent documentary series “Story of Music” (S1).
“One of the first operas to use historical events and people, it describes how Poppaea, mistress of the Roman emperor Nero, is able to achieve her ambition and be crowned empress” (S3) “The historians of antiquity describe her as a beautiful woman who used intrigues to become empress.” (S5; emphasis added)
Oh, those powerless women the radical feminists of our time try to conceal from us men!
Was it Monteverdi’s last attempt to contrast Venice and Rome?
Who was Poppaea? “According to Suetonius, while she was awaiting the birth of her second child in the summer of 65 [AD], she quarreled fiercely with Nero over his spending too much time at the races. In a fit of rage, Nero kicked her in the abdomen, causing her death.” Was she innocent? (S5; emphasis added)
“Tacitus claims that Poppaea was the reason that Nero murdered his mother. Poppaea induced Nero to murder Agrippina in 59 [AD] so that she could marry him” (S5)
“Still, Tacitus claims that, with Agrippina gone, Poppaea pressured Nero to divorce and later execute his first wife and stepsister Claudia Octavia in order to marry Poppaea” (S5; emphasis added)
Women are no angels and no saints
Only three years later, emperor Nero committed suicide in 68 AD.
“One of the most romantic and beautiful moments in all of opera is at the very end of Claudio Monteverdi‘s final opera, L’incoronazione di Poppea (Act III, Scene 7), the duet aria “Pur ti miro, pur ti godo.” Written just months before the composer’s death at age 76, the opera is the pinnacle of Monteverdi’s achievements, showing no diminution of his creative energies.” (S4; emphasis added)
Poppea: Pur ti miro,
Nero: pur ti stringo
P: pur ti godo,
N: pur t’annodo
P: più non peno,
N: più non moro,
P: O mia vita,
P/N: o mio tesoro.
Poppea: I gaze at you
Nero: I delight in you
P: I tighten closer to you
N: I am bound to you
P: I no longer suffer
N: I no longer die
P/N: Oh my life
Oh my treasure.
Then a lighter section breaks from the ostinato with declarations of love:
P: Io son tua…
N: Tuo son io…
P: Speme mia,
N: dillo, dì,
P: Tu sei pur,
N: speme mia
P: L’idol mio,
N: dillo, dì,
P: Tu sei pur,
N/P: Sì, mio ben,
Sì, mio cor, mia vita, sì, sì, sì, sì.
P: I am yours
N: You are mine
P: My hope,
N: say it, say,
P: The idol of mine,
N: Yes, my love,
P/N: Yes, my heart,
my life, yes.
And then the first part with the ostinato is repeated.
“This is truly among the most intimate, even erotic, moments in all of opera. When they start repeating “Yes, my love, yes, my heart, yes, my life, yes, yes, yes…” it’s nearly orgasmic and almost uncomfortably voyeuristic to watch.” (S4)
Sources (S):
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