"L'incoronazione di Poppea" was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, as part of the 1642–43 carnival season. The theatre, opened in 1639, had earlier staged the première of Monteverdi's opera "Le Nozze d'Enea in Lavinia", and a revival of the composer's "Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria". The theatre was later described by an observer: "... marvellous scene changes, majestic and grand appearances the performers ... and a magnificent flying machine; you see, as if commonplace, glorious heavens, deities, seas, royal palaces, woods, forests ...". The theatre held about 900 people, and the stage was much bigger than the auditorium.