List of Musical Items
The table uses the numberings from the 1656 printed version of Busenello's libretto, and includes the two act 2 scenes for which no music exists in the surviving scores. Typically, "scenes" comprise recitative, arioso, aria and ensemble elements, with occasional instrumental (sinfonia) passages. The boundaries between these elements are often indistinct; Denis Arnold, commenting on the musical continuity, writes that "with few exceptions it is impossible to extricate the arias and duets from the fabric of the opera."
| Number | Performed by | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue | Fortuna, Virtù, Amore | Deh, nasconditi, o Virtù (Pray hide thy face, O Virtue) |
Preceded by a short instrumental sinfonia |
| Act 1 1: Scene I |
Ottone | E pur' io torno qui (And so I am drawn back) |
|
| 1: Scene II | Due soldati, Ottone | Chi parla? chi parla? (Who's speaking? Who's speaking?) |
|
| 1: Scene III | Poppea, Nerone | Signor, deh, non partire! (My lord, oh, do not go!) |
|
| 1: Scene IV | Poppea, Arnalta | Speranza, tu mi vai il cor accarezzando; (Hope, you continue to beguile my heart) |
The Venice score (Vn) has a shorter version of Poppea's opening "Speranza, tu mi vai" than appears in the Naples score (Np) and in the libretto. |
| 1: Scene V | Ottavia, Nutrice | Disprezzata Regina, Regina Disprezzata! (Despised queen, queen despised!) |
|
| 1: Scene VI | Seneca, Ottavia, Valletto | Ecco la sconsolata donna (Behold the grieving lady) |
|
| 1: Scene VII | Seneca | Le porpore regali e le grandezze (Royal purple and high estate) |
|
| 1: Scene VIII | Pallade, Seneca | Seneca, io miro in cielo infausti rai (Seneca, I see fateful signs in heaven) |
|
| 1: Scene IX | Nerone, Seneca | Son risoluto alfine, o Seneca, o maestro, (I have finally decided, O Seneca, O master) |
|
| 1: Scene X | Poppea, Nerone | Come dolci, Signor, come soavi (How sweet, my lord, how delicious) |
|
| 1: Scene XI | Ottone, Poppea | Ad altri tocca in sorte (Others are allowed to drink the wine) |
Vn omits a final recitative from Ottone, and a sotto voce expression of sympathy for Ottone from Poppea's nurse Arnalta. |
| 1: Scene XII | Ottone | Otton, torna in te stesso (Ottone, come to your senses) |
|
| 1: Scene XIII End of Act 1 |
Drusilla, Ottone | Pur sempre di Poppea, hor con la lingua, (Poppea is all you ever talk about) |
|
| Act 2 2: Scene I |
Seneca, Mercurio | Solitudine amata, eremo della mente (Beloved solitude, mental sanctuary) |
|
| 2: Scene II | Liberto, Seneca | Il comando tiranno esclude ogni ragione (The tyrant's commands are quite irrational) |
Vn omits additional lines for Liberto, and also the repeat of his "More felice!" (Die happy) salutation. |
| 2: Scene III | Seneca, tre famigliari | Amici, è giunta l'hora (Friends, the hour has come) |
Vn omits additional lines for Seneca after the Coro di Famigliari. |
| 2: Scene IV | Seneca, coro di Virtú | Liete e ridente (Lightness and laughter) |
Scene in Busenello's libretto, not in Vn or Np, in which a Chorus of Virtues welcomes Seneca to heaven. |
| 2: Scene V | Valletto, Damigella | Sento un certo non so che (I feel a certain something) |
Vn shortens the final duet for Valletto and Damigella. |
| 2: Scene VI | Nerone, Lucano | Hor che Senca è morto, cantiam (Now that Seneca is dead, let us sing) |
The libretto allocates some Nerone/Lucano lines to the courtiers Petronio and Tigellino, neither of who figure in Vn or Np. Vn has a shorter version of the Nerone–Lucano duet and omits a stanza from Nerone's aria. |
| 2: Scene VII | Nerone, Poppea | O come, O come a tempo (O how, how sometimes, my beloved...) |
Scene in Busenello's libretto, not in Vn or Np, in which Nerone and Poppea reiterate their love. Np replaces this scene with a solo for Ottavia. |
| 2: Scene VIII | Ottone | I miei subiti sdegni (Did my rash anger...) |
The libretto adds five additional lines for Ottavia to the end of the scene, vowing vengeance on Poppea. Np extends this to 18 lines; neither version is included in Vn. |
| 2: Scene IX | Ottavia, Ottone | Tu che dagli avi miei havesti le grandezze (You who were ennobled by my ancestors) |
|
| 2: Scene X | Drusilla, Valletto, Nutrice | Felice cor mio (O happy heart, rejoice!) |
|
| 2: Scene XI | Ottone, Drusilla | Io non so dov'io vada (I know not whither I am going) |
|
| 2: Scene XII | Poppea, Arnalta | Hor che Seneca è morto, Amor, ricorro a te (Now that Seneca is dead, Love I appeal to you) |
|
| 2: Scene XIII | Amore | Dorme l'incauta dorme (She sleeps, the unwary woman sleeps) |
|
| 2: Scene XIV End of Act 2 |
Ottone, Amore, Poppea, Arnalta | Eccomi transformato (Here I am, transformed) |
The libretto has additional lines for Ottone, not in Vn or Np. |
| Act 3 3: Scene I |
Drusilla | O felice Drusilla, o che sper'io? (O happy Drusilla! Will my dreams come true?) |
|
| 3: Scene II | Arnalta, Littore, Drusilla | Ecco la scelerata (Behold the evil woman) |
|
| 3: Scene III | Arnalta, Nerone, Drusilla, Littore | Signor, ecco la rea (My lord, there is the criminal) |
In Np, four lines of Drusilla's from scene IV are sung here. The lines remain, with different music, in scene IV in both Vn and Np, but appear only in scene IV in the libretto. |
| 3: Scene IV | Ottone, Drusilla, Nerone | No, no, questa sentenza cada sopra di me (No, no! It is I who must be punished) |
Littore has a line in the libretto and in Np, which is omitted in Vn. |
| 3: Scene V | Poppea, Nerone | Signor, hoggi rinasco (My lord, today I am reborn) |
|
| 3: Scene VI | Arnalta | Hoggi sarà Poppea di Roma imperatrice (Poppea shall be Empress of Rome today) |
The libretto transposes scenes VI and VII as they appear in Vn and Np, so that Ottavia's lament is heard first. |
| 3: Scene VII | Ottavia | A Dio, Roma! a Dio, patria! amici, a Dio! (Farewell, Rome, my fatherland, my friends!) |
|
| 3: Scene VIII(a) | Nerone, Poppea, | Ascendi, o mia diletta (Ascend, O my beloved) |
|
| 3: Scene VIII(b) | Consoli, tribuni | A te, sovrano augusta (O august sovereign) |
|
| 3: Scene VIII(c) | Amore, Venere, coro di Amori | Madre, madre, sia con tua pace (Mother, forgive me for saying so) |
The libretto and Np carry extended versions of this scene; the Coro di Amori does not appear in Vn. |
| 3: Scene VIII(d) End of Opera |
Nerone, Poppea | Pur ti miro, pur ti godo (I gaze at you, I possess you) |
The text for this scene, included in both Vn and Np, does not appear in the published libretto. The words may have been written by composer-librettist Benedetto Ferrari; they appear in the libretto of his 1641 opera Il pastor regio. |
Read more about this topic: L'incoronazione Di Poppea
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