Category:Nero--music (subject)

Works of music related to Nero

Overview

Since the 17th century Nero has been a frequent character in operas and oratorios. The emphasis In operas, starting with Monteverdi's Incoronazione di Poppea, was on Nero as Emperor, his rise and fall and relationship with his mother Agrippina and his wife Poppaea. The main source of inspiration (variously reinterpreted) was the drama Octavia by the Pseudo-Seneca. Only the oratorio focused on the persecution of the early Christians by Nero. The situation changed at the end of the 19th century with the success of Quo Vadis? (1895). In Nogues's and Boito's operas the "Christian" theme got central stage.

Bibliography

• Gesine Manuwald, Nero in Opera: Librettos as Transformations of Ancient Sources (Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter, 2013)