On Saturday, Central City Opera presents a rare staging of Monteverdi's "Coronation of Poppea," a work that dates from the very beginnings of opera. Mark Ringer, a faculty member at Marymount Manhattan College in New York, and author of "Opera's First Master - The Musical Dramas of Claudio Monteverdi" (Amadeus Press), will be in Central City to present a pre-performance talk at 6:45 p.m. opening night in Williams Stables. Ringer spoke with music writer Marc Shulgold about the challenges and rewards of Baroque opera.

How should modern opera-goers approach this ancient work?

Use the same mindset as you would with Wagner: The drama is in the foreground. You have to take the story seriously. With later Baroque composers such as Handel, the music is most important - but not with Monteverdi.

He dramatizes human emotion better than anyone. He learned how to do that from writing his religious music and madrigals. This is really a modern opera - it deals with politics, corruption and erotic love.

We all know what a nasty fellow Nero was. Yet, he and Poppea sing a joyful love duet in the final scene. What are we to make of these characters?

Yeah, that ending is almost like Springtime for Hitler. Nero was written for a high male voice (here sung by mezzo-soprano Phyllis Pancella), which in those days suggested a person of great authority. But audiences back then knew that there was something wrong with Nero sexually. He does come across as pretty bad.

The final duet (featuring a mezzo and a soprano) achieves a weird parity between the voices. They're so close, it's like they become one.

This is an unsettling piece, because it shows the characters' love lives - reminding us of our shared humanity. There are sympathetic characters, such as (the noble philosopher) Seneca. He's a modern man, presenting the contemporary dilemma of how you keep your integrity without compromising yourself.

So, we shouldn't worry about the message and just enjoy the show?

Sure. There's a moral ambiguity in Poppea that is similar to the films of (Quentin) Tarantino. Amid the mindless violence in Pulp Fiction, there are funny moments and we laugh at them. Same here - the ugly and horrible are made beautiful.

Monteverdi was writing for a cross-section of Venetian society. It was a very free state, proudly inheriting all that was good in ancient Roman tradition. That's why it starts with a scene featuring Roman gods. But it was a commercial work. Much of the music is extremely erotic. This piece has something for everybody - then, and now.

The Coronation of Poppea

• When and where: Opens at 8 p.m. Saturday; in repertory at the Central City Opera House through Aug. 4

• Cost: $37 to $84

• Information: 303-292-6700

• Of Note: Nicholas Kraemer conducts Ken Cazan's production.

Poppea's story line

Premiered in 1643, Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea is the first opera based on real characters - Rome's infamous Emperor Nero, his wife Octavia, the philosopher Seneca and Nero's paramour Poppea. After a prologue in which the goddesses Fortune and Virtue bicker with Amore about the power of love, the story unfolds, telling of the adulterous affair between Nero and Poppea, and its tragic impact on those close to them: Poppea's would-be lover Otho, Empress Octavia and Seneca - whose disapproval costs him his life. After much intrigue, Octavia is sent into exile and Poppea is crowned Empress. A historical footnote: Years later, Nero would become enraged with the pregnant Poppea, kicking her to death.