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3 CD + DVD (Limited Edition while stocks last, then HMC902088/90)
After his acclaimed explorations of such Handel operas as Giulio Cesare and Rinaldo, René Jacobs now tackles the first great operatic success of the ‘caro Sassone’ (Venice, 1710), the climax of his Italian period. This version reconstructs the work in its original conception, the only one to combine explosive topicality with extreme dramatic cogency. As a result, this tale of amorous intrigues against a background of Roman history, the ‘prequel’ to Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, emerges more fascinating than ever.
BONUS DVD
Meet all the participants in this film made by Nayo Titzin in 2005 at the time of the Berlin production. Director Vincent Boussard explains his theatrical conception of the opera, while René Jacobs reveals all about this highly metaphysical work!
Handel: Agrippina, HWV 6
Sinfonia
Atto I, Sc. I: Recitativo Agrippina, Nerone "Nerone, Amato Figlio"
Atto I, Sc. I: Aria Nerone "Con Saggio Tuo Consiglio"
Atto I, Sc. II, Sc. III: Recitativo Pallante, Agrippina "A' Cenni Tuoi Sovrani"
Atto I, Sc. III: Aria Pallante "La Mia Sorte Fortunata"
Atto I, Sc. IV, Sc. V: Recitativo Narciso, Agrippina "Umile Alle Tue Piante"
Atto I, Sc. V: Aria Narciso "Volo Pronto E Lieto Il Core"
Atto I, Sc. VI: Recitativo Agrappina "Qunato fa, quanto puote"
Atto I, Sc. VII: Arioso Nerone "Qual Piacere A Un Cor Pietoso"
Atto I, Sc. VII: Recitativo Nerone "Amici, Al Sen VI Stringo", Sc. VIII, Sc. IX: Recitativo Agrippina "Voi Che Dell'al
Atto I, Sc. IX: Recitativo Pallante, Narciso "Il Tuo Figlio"
Atto I, Sc. IX: Recitativo Agrippina "Ma Qual Di Liete Trombe", Sc. X Recitativo Lesbo, Pallante, Narciso, Nerone, Agrippina "Allegrezza, Allegrezza!"
Atto I, Sc. XI, Sc. XII: Recitativo Ottone, Agrippina "Augusta, Amo Poppea"
Atto I, Sc. XII: Aria Agrippina "Tu Ben Degno"
Atto I, Sc. XIII: Recitativo Ottone "L'ultima del gioir meta gradita"
Atto I, Sc. XIV: Aria Poppea "Vaghe Perle, Eletti Fiori"
Atto I, Sc. XIV: Recitativo Poppea "Otton, Claudio, Nerone", Sc. XV, Sc. XVI, Sc. XVIi: Recitativo Poppea "Perché In Vece Di Claudio"
Atto I, Sc. XVII: Aria Poppea "È Un Foco Quel D'amore"
Atto I, Sc. XVIII: Recitativo Poppea, Agrippina "Ma Qui Agrippina Viene"
Atto I, Sc. XVIII: Aria Agrippina "Ho Un Non So Che Nel Cor"
Atto I, Scena XIX Recitativo Poppea "Cieli, Quai Strani Casi" Aria Poppea "Fa Quanto Vuoi"
Atto I, Sc. XX, Sc. XXI: Aria Claudio "Pur Ritorno A Rimirarvi"
Atto I, Sc. XXI: Recitativo Claudio, Poppea "Ma, Oh Ciel, Mesta E Confusa"
Atto I, Sc. XXI: Arietta Claudio "Vieni, Oh Cara"
Atto I, Sc. XXI: Recitativo Poppea, Claudio "Che Mai Farò?", Sc. Xxii, Sc. Xxii, Sc. Xxiii: Recitativo Poppea, Agrippina "O Mia Liberatrice"
Atto I, Sc. Xxiii: Aria Agrippina "Non Ho Cor Che Per Amarti"
Atto I, Scena Xxiv, Recitativo Poppea "Se Ottone M'ingannò" Aria Poppea "Se Giunge Un Dispetto"
Atto II, Sc. I, Recitativo Pallante, Narciso "Dunque Noi Siam Traditi?"
Atto II, Sc. II: Aria Ottone "Coronato Il Crin D'alloro"
Atto II, Sc. II: Recitativo Pallante, Narciso, Ottone "Roma, Più Ch'il Trionfo", Sc. III: Preludio, Recitativo Agrippina, Nerone, Poppea, Ottone, Narciso "Ecco Il Superbo!"
Atto II, Sc. III: Chorus "Di Timpani E Trombe", Sc. IV:Recitativo Claudio "Nella Britannia Vinta"
Atto II, Sc. IV: Aria Claudio "Cade Il Mondo Soggiogato"
Atto II, Sc. IV: Recitativo Agrippina, Claudio, Poppea, Nerone, Narciso, Pallante, Ottone "Signor, Quanto Il Mio Cuore"
Atto II, Sc. IV: Recitativo Ottone "Deh Tu, Agrippina, Assisti!", Aria Agrippina "Nulla Sperar Da Me"
Atto II, Sc. IV: Recitativo Ottone "E Tu Poppea, Mio Bene?", Aria Poppea "Tuo Ben È 'l Trono"
Atto II, Sc. IV: Recitativo Ottone "Soccorri Almen Nerone!", Aria Nerone "Sotto Il Lauro Ch'hai Sul Crine", Recitativo Ottone, Narciso, Pallante, Lesbo "Scherzo Son Del Destin"
Atto II, Sc. V, Recitativo Ottone "Otton, Qual Portentoso" Aria Ottone "Voi Che Udite Il Mio Lamento"
Atto II, Sc. VI: Aria Poppea "Bella Pur Nel Mio Diletto", Recitativo Poppea "Il Tormento d'Ottone"
Atto II, Sc. VI: Cavatina Ottone "Vaghe Fonti"
Atto II, Sc. VI: Recitativo Ottone "Ma Qui Che Veggo, Oh Ciel?", Recitativo Ottone, Poppea "Voi Dormite, Oh Luci Care"
Atto II, Sc. VI: Aria Ottone "Ti Vo' Giusta E Non Pietosa"
Atto II, Sc. VIII, Recitativo Poppea "Da Quali Ordite Trame" Aria Poppea "Ingannata Una Sol Volta"
Atto II, Sc. IX, Sc. X, Sc. XI: Recitativo Nerone, Poppea "Son Qui, Mia Vita"
Atto II, Sc. XI: Aria Poppea "Col Peso Del Tuo Amor"
Atto II, Sc. XII, Recitativo Nerone "Qual Bramato Piacere" Aria Nerone "Quando Invita La Donna L'amante"
Atto II, Sc. XIII: Aria Agrappina "Pensieri, voi mi tormentate"
Atto II, Sc. XIV: Recitativo Pallante, Agrippina "Sa be nemica sorte"
Atto II, Sc. XV: Aria Pallante "Col raggio placido"
Atto II, Sc. XVI: Recitativo Agrippina "Di giunger non dispero al mio derire"
Atto II, Sc. XVI: Aria Narciso "Sperero, poiche mel dice"
Atto II, Sc. XVIII: Arioso Claudio "Vagheggiar de' tuoi bei lumi"
Atto II, Sc. XX: Recitativo Lesbo, Claudio, Agrippina "Signor, Poppea…"
Atto II, Sc. XXI: Ario Agrippina "Ogni vento ch'al porto la spinga"
Atto III, Sc. I: Recitativo Poppea "Il caro Otton al precipizio io spinsi"
Atto III, Sc. V: Aria Poppea "Chi ben ama"
Atto III, Sc. VI: Recitativo Lesbo, Poppea, Claudio, Nerone, Ottone "Qui non v'e alcun"
Atto III, Sc. VIII: Ario Claudio Ora, Claudio, che dici?
Atto III, Sc. IX: Recitativo Poppea "Claudio parti"
Atto III, Sc. X: Recitativo Poppea, Ottone " Ora, Ottone, che dici?"
Atto III, Sc. X: Recitativo Ottone, Poppea "No, no ch'io non apprezzo"
Atto III, Sc. XI: Recitativo Agrappina, Nerone "Ah, mal cauto Nerone"
Atto III, Sc. XI: Aria Nerone "Come nube che fugge dal vento"
Atto III, Sc. XII: Recitativo Pallante, Narciso "Evvi donna piu empia?"
Atto III, Sc. XV: Recitativo Agrappina, Poppea, Nerone, Ottone, Claudio "Ecco la mia rivale"
Atto III, Sc. XV: Coro "Lieto il Tebro increspi d'onda"
Atto III, Sc. XV: Gigue
Alexandrina Pendatchanska sings Agrippina's first aria, L'alma mia fra le tempeste
A snippet of the short film 'Facing Agrippina', included in this set on DVD
Alexandrina Pendatchanska rehearses 'Ho un non so che nel cor', from the end of Act One
Bejun Mehta sings Ottone's 'Coronato il crin d'alloro'
Sunhae Im sings Poppea's 'Bella pur nel mio diletto'
Jennifer Rivera sings Nerone's 'Quando invita la donna l'amante'
Marcos Fink sings Claudio's 'Io di Roma il Giove sono'
1st October 2011
****
“The singers are fully inside their roles and the ensemble conveys an invigorating sense of stylistic unity...The recitatives crackle and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin provides a wonderfully lithe musical foundation. Handel operas are a long haul on CD, but this one really comes alive.”
7th October 2011
****
“Pendatchanska’s impassioned acrobatics are just one striking feature of this rollicking Baroque feast...the comedy keeps coming through, partly in the puncturing gestures of Jacobs’s instrumental forces, the brilliant Akademie für alte Musik Berlin. The play of voices in Jacobs’s cast creates its own comedy...Now can we please see the entire production? It’s just made for its own DVD.”
13th October 2011
****
“the performance is excellent: the recitatives and arias are deftly conducted, flowing seamlessly together...Bejun Mehta makes for a staggering Ottone, and Alexandrina Pendatchanska, who should stick to Handel rather than Mozart, is gloriously over the top in the title role.”
16th October 2011
“The Flemish conductor’s theatricality can’t be gainsaid, but purists may demur at the Callas-like chest notes of Alexandrina Pendachanska’s Agrippina. The Bulgarian soprano (above) is both virago and subtle schemer, however, a vivid presence. She is outclassed, vocally, by Bejun Mehta’s patrician Ottone — he has some of Handel’s most ravishing arias — and Marcos Fink’s splendidly blustering Emperor Claudius.”
01/12/2011
*****
“Jacobs's performance is electric. The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin matches the singers in virtuosity. The casting is luxurious...Deadly and glamorous, Alexandrina Pendatchanska's Agrippina is indefatigable”
November 2011
“you can hear its theatrical provenance (although studio recorded) in the crackle and repartee of a cast which clearly works as an ensemble...I'm glad to have heard [Pendatchanska] but I can imagine purists wincing occasionally. The set's most complete success is Bejun Mehta's Ottone, a secondary character which the countertenor transforms into the hero of the performance.”
New York Times
20th November 2011
“surges with energy, with a stellar cast”
January 2012
“Jacobs directs a larger-than-life performance of crackling theatrical energy...The recitatives make the characters' conspiracies, confrontations and lusts more vividly immediate, abetted by facetious commentaries from the varied continuo group. Purists may throw up their hands, but dull it ain't...This is Agrippina's opera; and Pendatchanska remains a commanding, neurotic presence throughout.”
February 2012
****
“Jacobs's conducting is full of pep.”
The Arts Desk
28th January 2012
“There’s little sense of Jacobs’s cast going through the motions; they give performances which are entirely credible. Alexandrina Pendatchanska’s Agrippina is almost overpowering, but she’s such a marvellous actress that you forgive her the odd touch of shrillness. And the men’s low voices are superb...The whole thing is driven along infectiously by Jacobs, who adds a typically hyperactive continuo. It’s superb.”
The Irish Times
2nd March 2012
***
“The singers are engaging, with Bejun Mehta particularly impressive as Ottone. The overall result is exciting, and will be appealing to those who like their Handel in Technicolour”
Click here for alternative recordings of this work.
Sinfonia
