Georg Frideric Handel - Agrippina - Sinfonia (John Elliot Gardiner with English Baroque Soloists)

"Agrippina" was one of Handel's earliest operas (composed at the very young age of 24) and one of his biggest first successes (the opera opened with a run of 27 successive nights of performance in Venice which was an extraordinarily long run at that time). Though not exactly one of Handel's better known works, I consider it a most telling example of the maestro's openly dramatic and realistic style, and one I quickly grew to admire, hence this series of my personal favorites from the work :).

The story is set in the Rome of the young Nero, while the action itself is centered around the machinations of his mother Agrippina to get him on the imperial throne. Other principal characters are the Emperor, Claudius, Agrippina's husband; Otho, the Emperor's loyal lieutenant, and his beloved, the flirtatious Poppea who is also desired by both Claudius and Nero and who is not exactly shunning their advances. From this story, the cardinal Grimani, the librettist, fashioned a typically Venetian text in which intrigue, witty observations and a certain black humor prevail, making for a stunning piece that could be considered an opera buffa were it not for several laments of great depth, mainly for Agrippina and Otho. However, avoiding the amoral conclusion of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, an opera with which Agrippina is linked both in subject and in treatment of the characters, composed in Venice some 70 years earlier, Grimani does not allow all the evil schemes to triumph: in the end Claudius resigns from the throne in favor of Nero, while allowing the marriage of Otho and Poppea (all this happens before the narrative of Lincoronazione).

The interest, perhaps, lies, first off, in the fact that the opera doesn't deal with noble people, like most of Handels works: only the wronged Otho is painted sympathetically, while all those around him, even his beloved, are presented in a less idealistic way, they are all primarily guided by their desires of fame, money or power. Stylistically, "Agrippina" follows the standard pattern of the time of alternating recitative and da capo arias with the plot carried forward in the recitatives and much of the musical interest and exploration of character taking place in the more florid arias. Moreover, the musical flow is, in many ways, Handel's most telling: only several numbers (out of the 44 the opera houses) are longer than 3-4 minutes, bringing believability to the emotions depicted; that is not to say that the larger laments are less than that, their size only serves highlight the emotional weight. The quality of the music itself is consistently high. Save for the rather pale aria for Juno, all characters get, at the very least, one notable piece, but all the music is viable dramatically and melodically: ranging from Agrippina's suitors stupefied babbling and Poppea's capricious pieces to Ottone's laments and Agrippina's surprisingly varied portrayal. The several concentrated pieces, though brief, make one wish that baroque opera was slightly more open to ensemble writing.

As if the work itself wasn't good enough, the recording from which these selections come is a winner in every possible way: the singing is strong (with Della Jones being the highpoint among some very proficient singers, including an absolutely wonderful Claudio of Alastair Miles), while the characterization makes one believe each and every word the soloists are saying. Here is the main cast with their respective roles:

Conductor - John Eliot Gardiner,
Orchestra - English Baroque Soloists,
Agrippina - Della Jones,
Nerone - Derek Lee Ragin,
Poppea - Donna Brown,
Claudio - Alastair Miles,
Ottone - Michael Chance,
Pallante - George Mosley,
Narciso - Jonathan Peter Kenny,
Lesbo - Julian Clarkson,
Giunone - Anne Sofie von Otter.

No. 1. Sinfonia. We begin with the dramatically telling overture, contrasting several sections: first, a solemn march to represent the place where much of the action takes place Imperial Rome; then, a hurried allegro, symbolizing, in my opinion, the sheer explosion of events that shatter the protagonists' lives; the allegro is suddenly cut short with a dramatic solo for oboe, before returning to the original march.

Hope you'll enjoy :)!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Handel
• Agrippina
• classical
• baroque
• coloratura
• da
• capo

[ChusmasWeb]

Gracias x la informacion Paradoxicus!

[ChusmasWeb]

Me toco analizar una obra de George Handel, este compositor me gusto mucho.. 10! esta muy buena se pueden distignuir los distintos instrumentos :)

[paradoxicus]

Fue su última ópera compuesta en Venecia,estrenada en 1.709,con éxito arrollador,para irse acto seguido a Alemania,al servicio de Jorge Luis I,príncipe elector de Hamburgo y posteriormente a Londres y Dublín,evitando el mecenazgo y desarrollando la mayor parte de su destino musical.

[shnimmuc]

Handel is like fire---great performance--my god what music

[MusicMaestroMozart]

Best Handel ouverture ever!

[rosasbarrocas]

who is the painter?????



[deyfuck]

Holy shit the way he brings that in at 1:35 is unbelievable - I had to rewind it like 30 times to figure out what the fuck he did. Handel you legend.

[TheRoguesse]

Viva il caro Sassone!

[oshidonimlop]

I am getting ready to play this in orchestra, and I love this recording. Thanks for posting. I am a huge fan of French style overtures because they resemble bridges in their majesties.

[gianm73yout]

amazing