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Agrippina
By George Frideric Handel (Georg Friedrich Händel)
Recordings
Click Here for comparisons of the McGegan and Gardiner recordings.
| Handel. Agrippina. (HWV 6, Venice 1709-10). Harmonia Mundi (forthcoming). Alan Curtis. Joyce DiDonato, Maite Beaumont, Karina Gauvin. |
| Handel. Agrippina. (HWV 6, Venice 1709-10). Harmonia Mundi (forthcoming). René Jacobs, Concerto Köln. |
 Handel.
Agrippina. (HWV 6, Venice 1709-10). Dynamic CDS431 (3
CDs, March 2004). Jean-Claude Malgoire. La Grand Écurie & La
Chambre du Roy. Agrippina: Véronique Gens, soprano; Nerone:
Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor; Poppea: Ingrid Perruche,
soprano; Claudio: Nigel Smith, baritone; Ottone: Thierry
Grégoire, countertenor; Pallante: Bernard Delétré, baritone;
Narciso: Fabrice Di Falco, countertenor; Lesbo: Alain Buet,
bass. I haven't heard this live recording. The recorded sound
quality of other recent Dynamic live recordings leaves much to
be desired.
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 Handel.
Agrippina. (HWV 6, Venice 1709-10). Harmonia Mundi HMC
907063/65 (3 CDs, 1992). Nicholas McGegan, Capella Savaria.
Agrippina: Sally Bradshaw, soprano; Nerone: Wendy Hill, soprano;
Poppea: Lisa Saffer, soprano; Claudio: Nicholas Isherwood, bass;
Ottone: Drew Minter, countertenor; Pallante: Michael Dean, bass;
Narciso: Ralf Popken, countertenor; Lesbo: Béla Szilágyi, bass;
Giunone: Gloria Banditelli, contralto. Overall, I prefer
McGegan's recording to Gardiner's.
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 Handel.
Agrippina. (HWV 6, Venice 1709-10). Philips 438 009-2 (3
CDs, 1997 (recorded 1991)). John Elliott Gardner, English
Baroque Soloists. Claudio: Alastair Miles, bass; Agrippina:
Della Jones, mezzo-soprano; Nerone: Derek Lee Ragin,
countertenor; Poppea: Donna Brown, soprano; Ottone: Michael
Chance, countertenor; Pallante: George Mosley, bass; Narciso:
Jonathan Peter Kenny, countertenor; Lesbo: Julian Clarkson,
bass; Giunone: Anne Sofie von Otter, contralto. Despite
substandard recorded sound and spotty casting, this is worth
having for the fine performances by Michael Chance and Alastair
Miles.
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The libretto to Agrippina may be the finest set by Handel. Reinhard Strohm wrote:
The librettist of Agrippina was Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani, who was Imperial Ambassador to the Vatican before his appointment as Viceroy of Naples on 1 July 1707. He was a sworn political opponent of the Pope, Clement XI, and the libretto is an open attack, half satirical and half realistic, on the Papal Court. He may well have had the Pope himself in mind as the Emperor Claudius. . . . Grimani's text is possibly only a reworking of an older libretto, either his own or another poet's.
R. Strohm, "Handel and his Italian opera texts", page 40. Essays on Handel and the Italian Opera. (Oxford University Press 1985).
Related Operas
| Vivaldi et al. Nerone fatto Cesare. (RV 724, Venice 1715). Pasticcio arranged by Vivaldi with 12 new arias by Vivaldi. "Probably the opera referred to by Uffenbach as Agrippina." Eric Cross, The Late Operas of Antonio Vivaldi, vol. I: Appendix I n2. Music apparently lost. The cast included Carli (Claudio in Handel's Agrippina) as Seneca. |
Original Cast
Agrippina: Margherita Durastanti, soprano & Elena Croce, soprano; Nerone: Valeriano Pellegrini, soprano castrato; Poppea: Diamante Maria Scarabelli, soprano; Claudio: Antonio Francesco Carli, bass; Ottone: Francesca Vanini-Boschi, contralto; Pallante: Giuseppe Maria Boschi, bass; Narciso: Giuliano Albertini, alto castrato; Lesbo: Nicola Pasini, bass; Giunone: unknown.
References
Dean & Knapp. Handel's Operas, 1704-1726. (Oxford University Press 1995 (1987)).
Curiosities
In the excellent 1990 version of Cyrano de Bergerac, directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, the overture to Handel's Agrippina can be heard during a play within the play, when Cyrano is staging an Agrippina.