“The Coronation of Poppea comes as close as we’ll ever get to an amoral opera,” said Alan Montgomery, Assistant Music Director in the opera department.  “Everything is done for ‘love,’ but that includes love of power, manipulation, immoral behavior and politics at the most ruthless — perfect for an election year.”

L’Incoronazione di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi premiered this Wednesday and will be performed in its original Italian with supertitles in English at Hall Auditorium at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday, as well as 2 p.m. on Sunday. Written in 1642, it is one of the earliest operas and was perhaps the last work ever written by the prolific Monteverdi. 

Set in 65 CE, the plot focuses on an increasingly complicated web of love interests that puts any modern-day soap opera to shame, including Nero, the Roman emperor (senior Elias Travers and junior Joseph Turro); Poppea, Nero’s mistress (seniors Alexandra Becerra and Lillie Chilen); Otho, Poppea’s lover; Ottavia, Nero’s wife; and Drusilla (senior Shelly Irvin and sophomore Elizabeth Zharoff), a court lady in love with Otho.

Sound messy enough yet?  Add a wide-ranging cast of secondary characters from Roman gods to aged philosophers; mix in politics, power, rage, jealousy and no shortage of murder plots and this opera is ready to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Oberlin is using a Baroque ensemble to accompany the opera, which raises questions of adhering to accurate historical performance practices versus reaching out to a modern-day audience. “Today in the historical performance world, there is always a struggle between authenticity and viability and artistry,” said Baroque violinist and Conservatory sophmore Isabelle Rozendaal, who is playing in the pit orchestra. 

She continued, “this production attempts to strike a balance between the two; it uses a period instrument band at high pitch and modern singers, with a modernist and classically inspired set.” With specialty historical instruments ranging from baroque violins to recorders, the sounds from the pit will be a beautiful realization of period music.

As for visual effects, Montgomery enthusiastically told the audience to expect “a stunning opera production, with visual treats like we have almost never tried ,with beautiful music supporting an intense drama.”

Audience members should be aware, said Rozendaal, that L’incoronazione di Poppea “is one of the most sexually explicit operas of its day,” and the production may not be for everyone.

“It is a human story of love and betrayal that will affect everyone in different ways. This opera will teach you about yourself,” Rozendaal said.