Florentine Opera's 'Poppea' reminds us that lust and corruption are timeless

Elaine Schmidt

Special to the Journal Sentinel

The Florentine Opera performs Monteverdi's "The Coronation of Poppea" March 22-31 at the Marcus Center's Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall, 123 E. State St.

Times change, people don’t.

The Florentine Opera Company opened a two-weekend run of Claudio Monteverdi’s opera “The Coronation of Poppea” (1643) on Friday evening. The plot, a quagmire of infidelities, corruption, duplicitous characters and lust for power, could as easily have come from today’s world as from its setting in Nero’s Rome.

Stage directed by Robin Guarino and conducted by Jory Vinikour, the Florentine’s production is built of vivid principal characters, powerful singing and acting, a bit of striking symbolism and a beautiful rendering of the Baroque score, performed on period instruments.

The production was sung with a blend of full, resonant vocal sounds and sure-footed technical facility, along with lovely performance practice details of the Baroque era.

Amanda Crider’s ringing, colorful sound and constant, flawless musical direction, in the role of Poppea, were a beautiful match to Karim Sulayman’s warm, soft-edged sounds in moments of tenderness, and cold, driven sounds elsewhere, in the role of Emperor Nerone. They delivered an absolutely gorgeous wedding duet.

Katherine Pracht brought a warm, focused sound to the roles of Ottavia and Virtu, and broke hearts with her farewell to Rome.

Nicholas Tamagna’s vocal warmth and ease, and his pathos, illuminated his caught-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place role of Ottone, entangled with Melissa Harvey’s beautifully sung Drusilla/Amore.

Matthew Trevino (Seneca) was dignity and grace personified, while Marc Molomot (Arnalta) was a complete comic delight.

The cast of 10 singer/actors delivered 21 characters. Although Nathaniel Hill, Nicholas Huff and Nicole Heinen created dimensional characters and sang beautifully, their multiple roles created a few moments of confusion for the audience.

The orchestra, with Vinikour conducting from a harpsichord and flanked by a quartet of period string instruments and two theorbos, gave a wonderfully refined, articulate performance of Monteverdi’s score, if with some sagging pitch from the lower instruments by the ends of the acts.

A simple, raised, raked platform, exposed lighting towers and a predominantly white palette for costumes and sets, accented by golds and reds, served the story well.

The Florentine’s production of “The Coronation of Poppea” continues through March 31 in the Wilson Theater of Vogel Hall at the Marcus Center, 123 E. State St. Visit florentineopera.org.