Relentless lust for power and intrigue are the key ingredients in Händel’s opera centred on Agrippina. In her quest for power she will allow nothing and no one to stand in her way. Her son Nero must become the next Emperor of the Roman Empire. The opera offers a heady mix of tragedy and comedy and the interplay of recitative and aria makes for fascinating musical theatre.
Händel masterfully combines the forms and styles that he picked up in both the German opera of his day and in the innovative Italian music scene. The score already contains all the elements that would later flourish in his great Italian operas for the London stage. It's for good reason that Agrippina is regarded as one of Händel’s first masterpieces. Stefano Montanari, who, as a virtuoso baroque violinist and opera director knows a thing or two about Italian baroque music, is the ideal musical director for this production. The title role will once again be performed by the Swedish mezzo-soprano and acclaimed Agrippina: Ann Hallenberg.
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