The Coronation of Poppea was the last opera composed by Monteverdi, then aged 75. It was first performed with great success in Venice in 1642. For his last work, Monteverdi adapted the musical form to the theatrical situation and the characters more than he had done before. The result is an immense wealth of forms, structures and styles that contribute to the dramatic characterisa-tion. The libretto tells of the love affair between the Emperor Nero and Poppea. Poppea makes Nero promise, against the advice of her former tutor Seneca, that he will marry her and that she will become empress. Ottone and Octavia plan to have her removed. Poppea is crowned empress, consecrating the victory of love. The mono-logues demonstrate the composer’s ability to unify dramatic and musical form. Those of Ottone and Octavia are of extraordinary dramatic intensity – perhaps the two most beautiful in operatic literature for the repu-diated empress: “Disprezzata Regina” in Act I and the moving “Addio Roma, Addio Patria” in Act III.