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''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' (SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, 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 Poppaea, mistress of the Roman emperor Nero, is able to achieve her ambition and be crowned empress. The opera was revived in Naples in 1651, but was then neglected until the rediscovery of the score in 1888, after which it became the subject of scholarly attention in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since the 1960s, the opera has been performed and recorded many times. The original manuscript of the score does not exist; two surviving copies from the 1650s show significant differences from each other, and each differs to some extent from the libretto. How much of the music is actually Monteverdi's, and how much the product of others, is a matter of dispute. None of the existing versions of the libretto, printed or manuscript, can be definitively tied to the first performance at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo, the precise date of which is unknown. Details of the original cast are few and largely speculative, and there is no record of the opera's initial public reception. Despite these uncertainties, the work is generally accepted as part of the Monteverdi operatic canon, his last and perhaps his greatest work. In a departure from traditional literary morality, it is the adulterous liaison of Poppea and Nerone which triumphs, although this victory is demonstrated by history to have been transitory and hollow. Moreover, in Busenello's version of the story all the major characters are morally compromised. 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. ==Historical context== Opera as a dramatic genre originated around the turn from the 16th to the 17th centuries, although the word itself was not in use before 1650. Precursors of musical drama included pastoral plays with songs and choruses, and the madrigal comedies of the late 16th century.〔Neef, p. 326〕 Monteverdi had already established himself as a leading composer of madrigals before writing his first full-length operas in the years 1606–08, while he was in the service of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua.〔Carter (2002), pp. 1–2〕 These works, ''L'Orfeo'' and ''L'Arianna'', deal respectively with the Greek myths of Orpheus and Ariadne. After a disagreement in 1612 with Vincenzo's successor, Duke Francesco Gonzaga, Monteverdi moved to Venice to take up the position of director of music at St Mark's Basilica, where he remained until his death in 1643.〔Neef, p. 324〕 Amid his official duties at Venice, Monteverdi maintained an interest in theatrical music and produced several stage works, including the substantial ''Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda'' (The battle of Tancred and Clorinda) for the 1624–25 carnival.〔 〕 When the first public opera house in the world opened in Venice in 1637, Monteverdi, by then in his 70th year, returned to full-scale opera. He may have been influenced by the solicitations of Giacomo Badoaro, an aristocratic poet and intellectual who sent the elderly composer the libretto for ''Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria'' (The return of Ulysses).〔Ringer, pp. 137–38〕 For the 1639–40 carnival season, Monteverdi revived ''L'Arianna'' at the Teatro San Moisè and later produced his setting of ''Il ritorno'' at the Teatro San Cassiano.〔 For the following season he wrote ''Le nozze d'Enea in Lavinia'' (The marriage of Aeneas to Lavinia), now lost, which was performed at the third of Venice's new opera theatres, Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paulo.〔 Another wealthy poet-librettist in the Venice milieu was Giovanni Francesco Busenello (1598–1659), like Badoaro a member of the intellectual society Accademia degli Incogniti. This group of free-thinking intellectuals had significant influence on the cultural and political life of Venice in the mid-17th century, and was particularly active in the promotion of musical theatre.〔Ringer, pp. 213–14〕〔Rosand (1991), pp. 37–40〕 Busenello had worked with Monteverdi's younger contemporary Francesco Cavalli, providing the libretto for ''Didone'' (1641),〔Robinson, p. 74〕 and according to theatre historian Mark Ringer was "among the greatest librettists in the history of opera".〔 It is unclear how and when Busenello met Monteverdi, though both had served in the Gonzaga court. Ringer speculates that they drew joint inspiration from their experiences of the Gonzaga style of rule, "a mixture of artistic cultivation and brutality", and thus developed a shared artistic vision.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「L'incoronazione di Poppea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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