Music: Hearing the Sounds of the Past

And staging a blood-boiling drama too

Ottone, a Roman nobleman, came home one night to discover his mistress, Poppea, in the arms of the notorious Emperor Nero. The Emperor finds time to dally with his male friend Lucano when Poppea or his Empress Ottavia is not around. Seneca, Nero's wise old mentor, advises him against marriage to Poppea and, for his counsel, is forced to commit suicide. Ottavia, whose crime is wanting to keep her husband and her throne, is exiled—set adrift alone at sea. Meanwhile, Ottone, who has tried to murder Poppea in...

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