Agrippina has always got what she wanted and has never shied away from manipulation, betrayal or even murder to get it. As Empress, she is determined to secure her son Nero’s succession to the throne, even if it means sacrificing others. Yet she has not reckoned with her dangerous rival, the young and ambitious Poppea. She is just as ruthless a schemer as Agrippina herself.
With the opera “Agrippina”, which premiered in Venice in 1709, George Frideric Handel celebrated his first great triumph. The blend of political satire, drama, humour and passion made the work an overnight success. Vincenzo Grimani’s libretto is full of power struggles that seem astonishingly modern, whilst Handel’s music endows each character with an unmistakable personality – from the relentless Agrippina to the young, still inexperienced Nero, the ageing Emperor Claudio, the seductive Poppea and the loyal Ottone. Each aria, performed with virtuosity and expressiveness, paints a precise psychological portrait.
This production, staged for the first time in Brno, Czech Republic, brings together the renowned Baroque orchestra Collegium 1704 conducted by Václav Luks.. Pavla Vykopalová takes on the title role of Agrippina, alongside the countertenors Constantin Zimmermann and Vojtěch Pelka.
