We would like, even during this extraordinary situation, for the Müpa Budapest audience to still be able to encounter the world's most outstanding and thrilling artists each evening - this time in their own homes. It is precisely for this reason that we have decided to unlock our media library for everyone over the weeks to come and - each night at the familiar times - open Müpa Budapest's virtual concert hall and auditoriums by providing access to a single unforgettable performance from past years.
The performance will be broadcasted on our website, Facebook-page and YouTube channel.
The series of Baroque operas with the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra, led by conductor György Vashegyi, arrived at another important juncture in 2015. Monteverdi's last work for the stage, L'Incoronazione di Poppea is unusual in that i...ts 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 Seneca, 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.
This recording was made at a concert held at Müpa Budapest on 26 November 2015.
Presented by: Müpa Budapest