L'incoronazione di Poppea discography

These lists show the audio and visual recordings of L'incoronazione di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi. The opera was premiered in Venice in 1642-43, but after a 1651 revival in Naples it remained unperformed for 250 years. It began to enter the general opera repertory in the 1960s, and thereafter was increasingly performed in leading opera houses and festivals.

Summary of recording history

The first recording of L'incoronazione, with Walter Goehr conducting the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in a live stage performance, was issued in 1954. This LP version, which won a Grand Prix du Disque in 1954,^[1] is the only recording of the opera that predates the revival of the piece that began with the 1962 Glyndebourne Festival production. In 1963 Herbert von Karajan and the Vienna Staatsoper issued a version described by The Gramophone as "far from authentic",^[2] while the following year John Pritchard and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recorded an abridged version using Leppard's Glyndebourne orchestration. Leppard conducted a Sadler's Wells production, which was broadcast by the BBC and recorded on 27 November 1971. This is the only recording of the opera in English.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt's 1974 version, the first recording without cuts, used period instruments in an effort to achieve a more authentic sound, although Denis Arnold has criticised Harnoncourt's "over-ornamentation" of the score, particularly his use of oboe and trumpet flourishes.^[3] Arnold showed more enthusiasm for Alan Curtis's 1980 recording, live from La Fenice in Venice. Curtis uses a small band of strings, recorders and continuo, with trumpets reserved for the final coronation scene.^[4] Subsequent recordings have tended to follow the path of authenticity, with versions from baroque specialists including Richard Hickox and the City of London Baroque Sinfonia (1988), René Jacobs and Concerto Vocale (1990), and John Eliot Gardiner with the English Baroque Soloists.

In more recent years, videotape and DVD versions have proliferated. The first was in 1979, a version directed by Harnoncourt with the Zürich Opera and chorus. Leppard's second Glyndebourne production, that of 1984, was released in DVD form in 2004.^[5] Since then, productions directed by Jacobs, Christophe Rousset and Marc Minkowski have all been released on DVD, along with Emmanuelle Haïm's 2008 Glyndebourne production in which the Festival finally rejects Leppard's big-band version in favour of Haim's own small orchestra setting.

List of recordings

The lists below refer to complete performances; excerpts and highlights are excluded. The year given is the year of the recording.

Audio

Year	Cast Poppea, Nerone, Ottavia, Ottone, Seneca	Conductor Opera house/Orchestra	Label^[6]
1952	Sylvia Gähwiller, Friedrich Bruckner-Rüggeberg, Maria Helbing, Mabelle Ott-Penetto, Franz Kelch	Walter Goehr Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich	LP: Concert Hall, Cat: CHS1184
1963	Sena Jurinac, Gerhard Stolze, Margarita Lilowa, Otto Wiener, Carlo Cava	Herbert von Karajan, Vienna Staatsoper	Audio CD: Deutsche Grammophon, Cat: 457 674-2
1963	Ursula Buckel, Hans-Ulrich Mlelsch, Eugenia Zareska, Grayston Burgess, Eduard Wollitz [de]	Rudolf Ewerhart [de], Santini Chamber Orchestra	LP: Vox, Cat: OPBX113
1964	Magda László, Richard Lewis, Frances Bible, Walter Alberti, Carlo Cava	John Pritchard, Glyndebourne Chorus Royal Philharmonic Orchestra	LP: HMV, Cat: SLS 908
1966	Claudia Parada [es], Mirto Picchi, Mirella Parutto, Renato Cesari, Boris Christoff	Carlo Franci [de], Maggio Musicale Fiorentino	CD: Opera d'oro, Cat: OPD1243
1966	Carol Bogard, Charles Bressler, Sharon Hayes, John Thomas, Herbert Beattie	Alan Curtis, Oakland Symphony Orchestra University of California chorus	LP: Cambridge, Cat: CRM 8901
1971	Janet Baker, Robert Ferguson, Katherine Pring, Tom McDonnell, Clifford Grant	Raymond Leppard, Sadlers Wells Opera (Sung in English; BBC broadcast 21 November 1971	Oriel Music Society, Cat: OMS 046/3
1974	Helen Donath, Elisabeth Söderström, Cathy Berberian, Paul Esswood, Giancarlo Luccardi	Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Concentus Musicus Wien	Teldec Cat: 2292-42547-2
1980	Carmen Balthrop, Carolyn Watkinson, Andrea Bierbaum, Henri Ledroit, Ulrik Cold	Alan Curtis Il Complesso Barocco	LP: Aperta Cat: LMA3008
1988	Daniela Dessì, Josella Ligi, Adelisa Tabiadon, Susanna Anselmi, Armando Caforio, Kumiko Yoshii	Alberto Zedda Bassano Pro Arte Orchestra	LP & CD: Nuova Era Cat: J6737/9
1988	Arleen Auger, Della Jones, Linda Hirst, James Bowman, Gregory Reinhart	Richard Hickox City of London Baroque Sinfonia	Virgin Classics Cat: 90775-2
1990	Danielle Borst, Guillemette Laurens, Jennifer Larmore, Axel Köhler, Michael Schopper	René Jacobs Concerto Vocale	Harmonia Mundi Cat: 901330/2
1996	Sylvia McNair, Dana Hanchard, Anne Sofie von Otter, Michael Chance, Francesco Ellero d'Artegna	John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists	Archiv Cat: 447 088-2
1997	Anna Caterina Antonacci, David Daniels, Nadja Michael, Axel Köhler, Kurt Moll	Ivor Bolton, Members of Bavarian State Orchestra	Farao Classics, Cat: B108 020
2000	Guillemette Laurens, Flavio Oliver, Gloria Banditelli, Fabian Schofrin, Ivan Garcia	Gabriel Garrido, Ensemble Elyma	K617, Cat: K617110
2005	Patrizia Biccirè, Liliana Rugiero, Angela Bucci William Matteuzzi, Raffaele Costantini	Sergio Vartolo, Capella Musicale di San Petronio	Brillant, Cat: BLC 92752
2010	Emanuela Galli, Roberta Mameli, Xenia Meijer, José María Lo Monaco, Raffaele Costantini	Claudio Cavina, La Venexiana	Glossa, Cat: GCD 920916
2020	Oksana Maltseva, Shin Yoowon, Susanna Rigacci, Choi Seoyeon	Federico Bardazzi	Bongiovanni

Video

Year	Cast Poppea, Nerone, Ottavia, Ottone, Seneca	Conductor, Opera house/Orchestra	Label^[6]
1979	Rachel Yakar, Eric Tappy, Trudeliese Schmidt, Paul Esswood, Matti Salminen	Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Zurich Opera and Chorus Stage director: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle	DVD: Deutsche Grammophon, Cat. No.0734174
1984	Maria Ewing, Dennis Bailey, Cynthia Clarey, Dale Duesing, Robert Lloyd	Raymond Leppard, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Glyndebourne Festival chorus Glyndebourne Festival, 1984 Director: Peter Hall	DVD: Kultur, Cat. No.PC47368
1993	Patricia Schumann, Richard Croft, Kathleen Kuhlmann, Jeffrey Gall, Harry Peters	René Jacobs, Concerto Köln Schwetzingen Festival, 1993	DVD: Arthaus, Cat: 100 108
1994	Cynthia Hayman, Brigitte Balleys, Ning Liang, Michael Chance, Harry van der Kamp	Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques Muziektheater Amsterdam Director: Pierre Audi	DVD: Kultur, Cat:
2000	Mireille Delunsch, Anne Sofie von Otter, Sylvie Brunet, Charlotte Hellekant, Denis Sedov	Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre Festival d'Aix en Provence, 2000	DVD: Bel Air, Cat:
2008	Danielle de Niese, Alice Coote, Tamara Mumford, Iestyn Davies, Paolo Battaglia	Emmanuelle Haïm, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Glyndebourne Festival, 2008 Stage direction: Robert Carsen	DVD: Decca, Cat: 0743339
2009	Miah Persson, Sarah Connolly, Maite Beaumont, Jordi Domènech, Franz-Josef Selig	Harry Bicket, Baroque Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu Recorded live February 2009 Director: David Alden	Blu-ray: Opus Arte, Cat: BD7105^[7]
2010	Danielle de Niese, Philippe Jaroussky, Anna Bonitatibus, Max Emanuel Cencic, Antonio Abete	William Christie, Les Arts Florissants Recorded live, May 2010, Teatro Real, Madrid Director: Pier Luigi Pizzi	DVD: EMI/Virgin Classics^[8]
2010	Birgitte Christensen, Jacek Laszczkowski, Patricia Bardon, Tim Mead, Giovanni Battista Parodi	Alessandro De Marchi, Orchestra of the Norwegian National Opera Stage director: Ole Anders Tandberg	Blu-ray: EuroArts Cat: 205 8924^[9]
2012	Sonya Yoncheva, Max Emanuel Cenčić, Ann Hallenberg, Tim Mead, Paul Whelan	Emmanuelle Haïm, Le Concert d'Astrée Recorded live, March 2012, Opéra de Lille Stage director: Jean-François Sivadier	DVD: Virgin Classics Cat: 928991-9^[10]
2017	Hana Blažíková, Kagnmin Justin Kim, Marianna Pizzolato, Carlo Vistoli, Gianluca Buratto	John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir Semi-staged, recorded June 2017, Teatro La Fenice	Blu-ray: Opus Arte^[11]
2018	Sonya Yoncheva, Kate Lindsey, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Carlo Vistoli, Renato Dolcini	William Christie, Les Arts Florissants Salzburg Festival, 2018 Stage director: Jan Lauwers	Streaming video: Carnegie Hall+^[12] DVD/CD: Harmonia Mundi, Cat: HAF890262224^[13]
2020	Oksana Maltseva, Shin Yoowon, Susanna Rigacci, Choi Seoyeon	Federico Bardazzi	Bongiovanni

References

Notes

^ "Trade News". Gramophone. London: Haymarket: 95. November 1954. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
^ "Gundula Janowitz features in a far from authentic Poppea". Gramophone. London: Haymarket: 94. July 1998. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
^ Arnold, Denis (March 1975). "Monteverdi:L'incoronazione di Poppea complete". Gramophone. London: Haymarket: 101. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
^ Arnold, Denis (April 1982). "Monteverdi:L'incoronazione di Poppea ed. Curtis". Gramophone. London: Haymarket: 88. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
^ Lawrence, Richard (September 2004). "Monteverdi:L'incoronazione di Poppea". Gramophone. London: Haymarket: 76. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
^ ^a ^b Recordings of L' incoronazione di Poppea on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
^ Mike Ashman, Review of 2009 video of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Gramophone, September 2012, p. 84: "Harry Bicket’s orchestra, their performance a reminder of how much progress has been made in the realisation of early Venetian opera in the last half-century. The hand-picked European cast is in fine fettle, Connolly’s Nero outstanding; picture and sound appear to serve the production. This is, of course, not the only way to do Poppea but even the strongest DVD rivals to this set (Haïm/Carsen on Decca and Christie/Pizzi on Virgin) seem a little over-egged in comparison."
^ 2010 Teatro Real, Madrid, DVD, 2012 OCLC 785957070.
^ Richard Lawrence, "Tandberg’s bloodbath Incoronazione in Oslo", Gramophone, June 2012, p. 87: "How best to depict these grotesques for a 21st-century audience? Ole Anders Tandberg’s solution is to put them in modern dress and to have them indulge in what the booklet-note calls ‘frequent lashings of blood and sex’. ... The stage is littered with as many bodies as in a Jacobean tragedy. You are hardly going to buy this for the singing but, for what it’s worth, the best is from Tim Mead and Patricia Bardon. Monteverdi’s scoring has been enhanced, not too offensively. The filming – often from above – is excellent".
^ David Vickers, "Sivadier’s 2012 Incoronazione on screen from the Lille Opera", Gramophone, August 2013, pp. 76–77: "A stark black and grey set inhabited by the entire company in modern dress (Prologue) gradually evolves into a boldly colourful ‘Roman’ world (lots of red, orange and gold) in which people act and look approximately like ancient Romans – but with small splashes of modern‑day props for some sort of ironic effect. ... Sonya Yoncheva [is] a cynically seductive Poppea. Max Emanuel Cencic has the range to bash out Nerone’s highest notes, and the occasional histrionic high passages and over‑the‑top delivery suit Nerone’s brattish character. Ann Hallenberg’s jilted Ottavia and Tim Mead’s Ottone (each by turns jealous, desperate and broken) are vocally and dramatically outstanding. Paul Whelan’s husky singing is well suited to the doomed Seneca. ... I am less satisfied by Haïm’s musical direction. ... Those averse to early music purism might admire Haïm’s ostentatiously upholstered textures and anachronistic methods but in truth this musical aesthetic is a post‑1970s modern construct, just like Sivadier’s stage action."
^ 2017 Teatro La Fenice, Blu-ray, 2022, OCLC 1348276058, 1338693017.
^ Amazon Prime Video product page. Video format not specified. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
^ David Vickers, Review of the Salzburg 2018 video, Gramophone, October 2019, p. 99: "The lucidity of the drama is smudged by over-activity on stage from experimental dancers doing an inordinate amount of experimental dancing, often in various states of undress, and always with one of them at centre stage whirling in perpetual circular motion until the next dancer on the rota gives them a cuddle and relieves them. Characters with no business being on stage lurk persistently without purpose and contradict theatrical sense. Ottone does not disguise himself in Drusilla’s clothes for the attempt on Poppea’s life, rendering the rest of Act 3 inexplicable. Some of the numerous cuts are obtrusive."

Sources

"Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
"Gramophone Archive". The Gramophone. Retrieved 2 November 2009. (registration required)
March, Ivan, ed. (1993). The Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Disc. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-046957-5.
Roberts, David, ed. (2005). The Classical Good CD&DVD Guide 2006. Teddington, UK: Haymarket Consumer. ISBN 0-86024-972-7.

[1] "Trade News". Gramophone. London: Haymarket: 95. November 1954. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2009.

[2] "Gundula Janowitz features in a far from authentic Poppea". Gramophone. London: Haymarket: 94. July 1998. Retrieved 8 November 2009.

[3] Arnold, Denis (March 1975). "Monteverdi:L'incoronazione di Poppea complete". Gramophone. London: Haymarket: 101. Retrieved 8 November 2009.

[4] Arnold, Denis (April 1982). "Monteverdi:L'incoronazione di Poppea ed. Curtis". Gramophone. London: Haymarket: 88. Retrieved 8 November 2009.

[5] Lawrence, Richard (September 2004). "Monteverdi:L'incoronazione di Poppea". Gramophone. London: Haymarket: 76. Retrieved 8 November 2009.

[Operadis-6] Recordings of L' incoronazione di Poppea on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk

[7] Mike Ashman, Review of 2009 video of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Gramophone, September 2012, p. 84: "Harry Bicket’s orchestra, their performance a reminder of how much progress has been made in the realisation of early Venetian opera in the last half-century. The hand-picked European cast is in fine fettle, Connolly’s Nero outstanding; picture and sound appear to serve the production. This is, of course, not the only way to do Poppea but even the strongest DVD rivals to this set (Haïm/Carsen on Decca and Christie/Pizzi on Virgin) seem a little over-egged in comparison."

[8] 2010 Teatro Real, Madrid, DVD, 2012 OCLC 785957070.

[9] Richard Lawrence, "Tandberg’s bloodbath Incoronazione in Oslo", Gramophone, June 2012, p. 87: "How best to depict these grotesques for a 21st-century audience? Ole Anders Tandberg’s solution is to put them in modern dress and to have them indulge in what the booklet-note calls ‘frequent lashings of blood and sex’. ... The stage is littered with as many bodies as in a Jacobean tragedy. You are hardly going to buy this for the singing but, for what it’s worth, the best is from Tim Mead and Patricia Bardon. Monteverdi’s scoring has been enhanced, not too offensively. The filming – often from above – is excellent".

[10] David Vickers, "Sivadier’s 2012 Incoronazione on screen from the Lille Opera", Gramophone, August 2013, pp. 76–77: "A stark black and grey set inhabited by the entire company in modern dress (Prologue) gradually evolves into a boldly colourful ‘Roman’ world (lots of red, orange and gold) in which people act and look approximately like ancient Romans – but with small splashes of modern‑day props for some sort of ironic effect. ... Sonya Yoncheva [is] a cynically seductive Poppea. Max Emanuel Cencic has the range to bash out Nerone’s highest notes, and the occasional histrionic high passages and over‑the‑top delivery suit Nerone’s brattish character. Ann Hallenberg’s jilted Ottavia and Tim Mead’s Ottone (each by turns jealous, desperate and broken) are vocally and dramatically outstanding. Paul Whelan’s husky singing is well suited to the doomed Seneca. ... I am less satisfied by Haïm’s musical direction. ... Those averse to early music purism might admire Haïm’s ostentatiously upholstered textures and anachronistic methods but in truth this musical aesthetic is a post‑1970s modern construct, just like Sivadier’s stage action."

[11] 2017 Teatro La Fenice, Blu-ray, 2022, OCLC 1348276058, 1338693017.

[12] Amazon Prime Video product page. Video format not specified. Retrieved 19 November 2023.

[13] David Vickers, Review of the Salzburg 2018 video, Gramophone, October 2019, p. 99: "The lucidity of the drama is smudged by over-activity on stage from experimental dancers doing an inordinate amount of experimental dancing, often in various states of undress, and always with one of them at centre stage whirling in perpetual circular motion until the next dancer on the rota gives them a cuddle and relieves them. Characters with no business being on stage lurk persistently without purpose and contradict theatrical sense. Ottone does not disguise himself in Drusilla’s clothes for the attempt on Poppea’s life, rendering the rest of Act 3 inexplicable. Some of the numerous cuts are obtrusive."

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