The series of Baroque operas with the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra, led by conductor György Vashegyi, arrives at another important juncture. Monteverdi's last work for the stage, L'Incoronazione di Poppea is unusual in that its composer, aged 75 at the time of its writing in 1642, took the bold and innovative step of bringing true historical events to the stage for the first time in the history of opera - doing away with the customary reliance on classical mythology. The story of Sene...ca, Drusilla, the cheated Empress Octavia, Nero and his lover Poppea is risqué and immoral: the evil triumph, while the virtuous suffer. The combination of outstanding singers in the principal roles, music performed on period instruments and distinctive direction promises an experience to remember, and not only for lovers of musical theatre. Strikingly avant-garde in its time, Monteverdi's music remains extraordinarily expressive to this day, its varied and sensuous melodies and exhilerating harmonies serving to accentuate the emotions of the story. Typically of masterpieces of its kind, this almost 400-year-old work speaks to audiences of all eras, including our own.

The score is edited by Clifford Bartlett.