Name: Summer Opera Lyric Theatre presents The Coronation of Poppea
Start: 2025-08-03T20:00:00
Location: Alumnae Theatre Main Stage

Mac-Haydn Theatre

L'incoronazione di Poppea (SV 308, The Coronation of Poppea) is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice during the 1643 carnival season. One of the first operas to use historical events and people, it describes how Poppea, mistress of the Roman emperor Nero, is able to achieve her ambition and be crowned empress. Written when the genre of opera was only a few decades old, the music for L'incoronazione di Poppea has been praised for its originality, its melody, and for its reflection of the human attributes of its characters. The work helped to redefine the boundaries of theatrical music and established Monteverdi as the leading musical dramatist of his time.