Nero și Popeea – un cuplu sentimental în opera lui Monteverdi
Nero and Popeea – A Sentimental Couple in Claudio Monteverdi’s Opera

Summary/Abstract: This article discusses one of the famous love stories in the history of the Roman Empire and of the world, the love story between the Roman Emperor Nero and his mistress and later wife, Sabina Poppaea. This idyll that history greatly condemns, is viewed by Monteverdi, in his opera L'Incoronazione di Poppea, from a completely different perspective, one in which love conquers all. Thus, it creates a certain balance between historical tradition that sometimes distorts events through the historian’s subjective beliefs and real life facts which, through art, can be brought to light. The opera’s libretto belongs to Giovanni Francesco Busenello and is based mainly on the writings of Tacitus and partly of Suetonius (those that refer to Emperor Nero). Usually Poppaea is presented in literary works as a woman of questionable morality, capable of any compromise to achieve her goal. In Monteverdi's libretto, Poppaea is presented as a very beautiful, ambitious and intelligent woman who knows exactly what she wants in life and has the power to accomplish it. By using these character traits – which can be regarded as qualities when used in a noble way – she succeedes in becoming the Emperor’s wife, gaining his heart at the same time. In conclusion, the story of Nero and Poppaea, from Monteverdi’s point of view, is one which speaks about the triumph of love over any dramas that life may bring.

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