Opera Scotland

Incoronazione di Poppea 1973Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Coronation of Poppea

Anthony Besch’s production of the Raymond Leppard performing version was originally mounted for the students of the London Opera Centre, but deserved to have a longer life than that would imply.

There were several notable performances, with Anne Howells as a very attractive and completely amoral Poppea, Patricia Kern very dramatic and anguished as Ottavia and Helen Watts making a rare appearance in opera as Arnalta, revealing an unexpected sense of comedy.

Among the men, Stafford Dean was able to show off his cavernous lower register as a noble Seneca, and David Fieldsend showed great promise as a characterful page. Nero is an awkward role at Leppard's tenor pitch, but David Hillman took advantage of that to bring out the petulance and immaturity of the character. When the production opened, the Prologue was performed, but during the run, between Liverpool and Glasgow, the decision was taken to cut it, thus, presumably, opening the drama without undue delay. While Roger Butlin's sets were made for the London Opera Centre, the costumes were in fact those made for the first Glyndebourne staging of 1963.