Various - Claudio Monteverdi: Two Classic Operas - L'Orfeo, L'incoronazione di Poppea

Monteverdi�s seminal first opera L�Orfeo, tells the dramatic story from Ovid�s Metamorphoses of the descent of Orfeo (Georg Nigl) into the underworld to recover his beloved wife Euridice (Roberta Invernizzi), seen here in a production for La Scala, based on a painting by Titian and directed by Robert Wilson. David Alden�s visually sumptuous production of L�incoronazione di Poppea, with its suggestions of a giant game of chess, puts the opera�s potent blend of sex and politics in a context that sets ancient against modern � just as the action juxtaposes scurrilous comedy and stark drama.