The world premier of Michael Hersch’s opera POPPAEA

Opera POPPAEA was presented on 10th September at Switzerland's Festival ZeitRäume Basel.

With breathtaking emotional power, Michael Hersch and Stephanie Fleischmann retell the story of Emperor Nero and his wife Poppaea: 2000 years ago, she was the most powerful woman in the world, she ruthlessly fought for her own goals, and lived to see the burning of Rome and the end of a world. This opera premiere directed by Markus Bothe ventures on a red-hot journey to the dark side of Monteverdiʼs LʼINCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA. The Basel-based architecture firm Piertzovanis Toews turns the stage design into a statement on taking responsibility for the consequences of oneʼs own actions.
“POPPAEA is an opera about a woman whose desire ‒ for power, for love, for recognition, for the mother she lost when she was 16, for motherhood ‒ is limitless, a woman whose intelligence is as profound as her beauty, a woman who must endure ‒ and make her way through ‒ a world in which women are systematically silenced. The sheer violence of this world is extreme. It begs the question: How far have we come? How little ground have we covered?” (Michael Hersch / Stephanie Fleischmann)

Next show will take place in Vienna, Austria at #ViennaModern34 on 5, 6, 7th at Theater ODEON.