There’s no doubt that a tale about a power-hungry nymphomaniac who seduces an infamous Roman emperor is guaranteed to get opera lovers salivating. Add to that the prospect of some of early opera’s most expressive music, including a swoon-worthy final duet and the proposition seems irresistible.

The current production of The Coronation of Poppea by Lyric Opera of Melbourne is alive to the theatrical and musical possibilities of Monteverdi’s last opera. Arrestingly, the first sounds to be heard are not those of the composer, but of some trashy, 21st-century dance music. Enter two drag queens, clearly the worse for wear. Fortune (Robert Macfarlane) and Virtue (Hew Wagner) are discussing who’s top dog (or is that god)? Director Tyran Parke clearly establishes the impotence of these deities from the outset, as the flawed mortals of the story are often appealing to them for heavenly patronage. Amor then appears on the scene. Sung by Alison Lemoh, this pivotal character is not cast here as a boyish Cupid, but as a conniving, worldly wise femme fatale who is in no doubt of her superiority and her ability to alter the course of history.