DVD 1 - Norwegian National Opera – Staged by Ole Anders Tandberg: The Coronation of Poppea The performance portrays the decadence of the late Roman Empire – with obvious parallels to our own times. It marked Ole Anders Tandberg’s debut with the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, and he certainly let the blood flow. “As with the visuals, voices and orchestra are recorded closely — Monteverdi as in-your-face music drama. Show it or give it to someone who thinks Baroque opera is boring.” Mark Mandel, Opera News DVD 2 Schwetzinger Festspiele 1993 – Staged by Michael Hampe: Poppea This performance, faithful to the original, is musically arranged and conducted by René Jacobs, one of the world’s leading Baroque specialists. With Patricia Schumann - Richard Croft - Kathleen Kuhlmann - Harry Peeters With the emphasis on the text, conductor René Jacobs depends upon an excellent cast to bring the production to live. Patricia Schumann dominates the stage, an effective counterpart to Richard Croft's Nero. Gary S. Dalki DVD 3 Theaterhaus Stuttgart – Gauthier Dance - Choreography by Christian Spuck: POPPEA//POPPEA For the ballet "POPPEA // POPPEA", Martin Donner uses Monteverdi's compositions, which are scratched, cut up, and mixed by a DJ, giving the performance a very futuristic ambience. Emma Ryott's costumes reflect the various characters and each character develops their own individual dance gestures which run through the story like leitmotifs. Magazine "Dance Europe" declared "POPPEA // POPPEA" one of the ten most successful dance productions of 2010, and it won German theatre prize DER FAUST in 2011. Christian Spuck also won Best Choreographer at the 2012 Danza&Danza; Awards for this production.