David Pownall’s drama imagines what may have happened if the composer Monteverdi had been summoned to Rome to appear before the all-powerful Inquisition on charges of allowing blasphemy and immorality to go unpunished at the end of his magnificent new opera ‘The Coronation of Poppea’.

The Emperor Nero, persecutor of the early Christian church, is the leading character and concludes the opera by singing a sublime love duet - something the church authorities cannot comprehend or sanction.

Weak and frightened, the elderly Monteverdi is even brought face to face with the highly unpredictable Pope.

How will Monteverdi escape the suffocating clutches of the Church?
Will the Inquisition succeed in stifling his creative impulses?
Why is the Pope so involved?

This is novelist and dramatist David Pownall's 89th play for radio – a remarkable achievement.

He revisits some of the long-standing areas of artistic interest that have always intrigued him. What motivates composers? What emotions inspire great music? How can a composer reconcile himself to the unbending demands of the Church or the State when under intense mental and physical pressure. Can a composer ever truly express himself under such strictures? This debate lies at the heart of his great stage play, the black comedy Master Class, in which Stalin tries to ‘persuade’ Prokofiev and Shostakovitch to work together to produce the perfect piece of Soviet music.

Claudio Monteverdi .... Jim Norton
Maffeo Barberini .... David Horovitch
Claudia .... Monica Dolan
Busenello .... Anton Lesser
Domingo .... Michael Maloney
Adriano and Bernini .... Carl Prekopp
Sister John .... James Joyce
The Pope’s Secretary /Coachman .... Andrew Branch
Giovanna and Martha .... Jane Whittenshaw

Director: Martin Jenkins

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2018. Show less