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26/10/2004 L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Monteverdi's great opera: too grown-up?
In a lifetime of multi-genre gig-going, I'd only ever walked out of two shows: last summer's lamentable Carmen, at the English National Opera, and a Mike Scott thrash metal rockfest at the Highbury Garage in the mid-'90s, which threatened to inflict lasting damage on my hearing. Last night's Barbican performance of L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Monteverdi's great piece, and the work commonly regarded as the first opera (first performed in 1643), made it three. Nothing wrong with the singing - Sofie von Otter, in particular, was a delight - or Rene Jacobs's fine band, Concerto Vocale, or the concert staging. And it was healthy to be exposed to some very early opera: what does he of opera know who only Mozart knows…. It was just so crudely unengaging: a dull, monotonous score, an especially silly libretto, an endless series of recitatives, never seeming to interact, and confusing cross-dressing (Emperor Nero played by a curvy soprano). Maybe the second half picked up. I'll never know. Music for grown-ups? Probably - there were some serious music buffs in last night's sell-out crowd. But this particular Monteverdi was far too grown-up for me.
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