Monteverdi’s final opera brings gods, love, and men in conflict as Emperor Nero Augustus plans to supplant his wife, the Empress Ottavia, with his lover, Poppea. Ottone, hopelessly in love with Poppea himself, realizes that he could not compete with the Emperor and proposes marriage to Drusilla, a noblewoman in the court of the Empress. When Ottavia summons Ottone and demands he kill Poppea, nothing short of divine intervention could stop the Empress’ revenge. MMF’s Baroque Institute presents an intimate…