Countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim and soprano Erica Schuller perform “Pur ti miro” from Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea in honor of Haymarket’s canceled production.

In response to COVID-19, this production was canceled.

Haymarket Opera Company canceled the highly-anticipated June production of L’incoronazione di Poppea in response to the global pandemic. Performances of Monteverdi's final operatic masterpiece were intended to be our inaugural performance in the new Jarvis Opera Hall at DePaul University, with superstar countertenor Justin Kim and soprano Erica Schuller leading a cast of Haymarket favorites. 

Dear Friends,

Today would have been the opening night of our production of Claudio Monteverdi’s final operatic masterpiece L’incoronazione di Poppea. This was to be the close of our ninth season and our seventeenth operatic production. As you can hear and see in this short video of sopranos Erica Schuller Kangmin Justin Kim accompanied by Brandon Acker and myself in the famous duet between Poppea and Nerone “Pur ti miro” which concludes the opera, it would have been a very special series of performances. 

Our cast and crew were really a “dream team” of accomplished performers and designers including both familiar friends and several artists making their HOC debuts. Our complete cast was to have been: Erica Schuller as the ambitious concubine Poppea, Kangmin Justin Kim as the unhinged emperor Nerone, Kimberly McCord as the deposed and exiled Empress Ottavia, Dave Govertsen as the pontificating philosopher Seneca, Michael Skarke and Kristin Knutson as the dejected lovers/murder accomplices Ottone and Drusilla, Michelle Wrighte as the Empress’s saucy servant Arnalta, Elijah McCormick as the proud god Cupid, Katelyn Lee as the stern goddess Virtue, Jianghai Ho as the poet Lucano, Ryan Townsend Strand as Littore, and Dorian McCall as Tribuno. Our beloved long-time stage director Sarah Edgar had planned a detailed and thoughtful reading of Busenello’s superb libretto. Lindsey Lyddan designed a beautiful new set and lighting scheme for our debut at DePaul University’s stunningly elegant Sasha and Eugene Jarvis Opera Hall. And we were delighted to welcome Stephanie Cluggish into the Haymarket family in her debut as costume designer.

We mourn the delay of this thrilling event. Much has been lost, but we are more determined than ever to bring this production to the stage in the fullness of time. If you are not familiar with L’incoronazione di Poppea I encourage you to seek out one of the many wonderful available commercial recordings. You’ll discover or perhaps reacquaint yourself with this intense drama wherein a multitude of flawed characters sing some of the best music in the history of opera. 

We at Haymarket Opera Company are so grateful for your continued support during these times of tumultuous change. We have spent the last few months in a contemplative process of reinventing ourselves in the wake of a deadly virus. We are grappling with the question of how to celebrate our tenth anniversary season in style while protecting the health and safety of our audience and artists. Your generous gifts and messages of solidarity allow us to confidently plan for our tenth anniversary season despite the many challenges we face together. 

Please “stay tuned” as you won’t want to miss exciting announcements which are coming soon.

Craig Trompeter

Founder & Artistic Director