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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Handel: Agrippina, HWV 6
Susanne Geb (Agrippina), Judith Braun (Nerone), Elizabeth Wiles (Poppea), Hiroshi Matsui (Claudio), David Cordier (Ottone), Guido Baehr (Lesbo) Saarbrücken State Theater Orchestra, Konrad Junghänel Brand new complete recording of Handel's Agrippina on 2 CDs (there are 3 current competitors, all an 3 CDs). Live Recording of the spectacular new production of this baroque masterpiece at the Saarbrücken State Theater from 2008. How to enrich a gloomy plot full of intrgues, cabal and rancor to an adorable comedic insight into the inner life of the Royals, how to perform a baroque opera into an incredibly exciting affair with no second of boredom, in which the wealth of variants of baroque music becomes accessible to the listener - this all shows Peter Lund by his celebrated production of Agrippina at the Saarland Staatstheater. In love with detail, focused on directing the characters, with exuberant fantasy and creativity the Berlin director sparks a brilliant Handel fireworks. He succeeds in unleashing an effervescent joy of playing, which puts an irresistible spell on the viewer"(Frank Herkommer in "opernnetz.de")Audio and video production in High Definition quality. Premium slipcase containing 2 CDs together with a comprehensive booklet in a jewel box. Complete original libretto in Italian. Detailed summeries of the plots from each individual act in English, French and German Comprehensive introduction essay with description of both the history of origins and the historical background of the plot Premium cast by renowned baroque specialists under the direction of Konrad Junghaenel, one of the leading conductors in the array of early music. Konrad Junghaenel is rating among the most knowledgeable and profiled interpreters of vocal baroque music. His vocal ensemble Cantus Cölln, founded in 1987, belongs today to the most respected formations of this kind in the international music scene. The implementation of his intense engagement with baroque performing sound led the professor at the famous Cologne conservatory directly into the inner circle of the most coveted guest conductors for baroque and early classical opera. | 
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| |  | Handel: Agrippina, HWV 6Drama per musicaEva Buchmann - stage director
Agrippina Annemarie Kremer - soprano, Poppea Renate Arends - soprano, Nerone Michael Hart-Davis – tenor, Ottone Quirijn de Lang - baritone, Claudius Piotr Micinski – bass, Narcissus Clint van der Linde - alto, Pallante Robbert Muuse - baritone & Lesbo Jan Alofs - bass Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Jan Willem de Vriend | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French “Worthy but conventional staging by Hampe. Variable singing, strong conducting by Östman.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2006 *** “…Michael Hampe's Baroque-style staging is entertaining, with action based closely on the contours of Handel's music and containing good-natured humour that never threatens to obstruct the drama.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2006 “Michael Hampe's production involves handsome baroque sets by Mauro Pagano and traditional costumes...Barbara Daniels is agile, strong and bright in the title-role, with Janice Hall first-rate as Poppea.” Penguin Guide, 2010 **/* | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Véronique Gens (Agrippina), Philippe Jaroussky (Nerone), Ingrid Perruche (Poppea), Nigel Smith (Claudio), Thierry Grégoire (Ottone), Bernard Deletré (Pallante), Fabrice Di Falco (Narciso), Alain Buet (Lesbo) La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, Jean-Claude Malgoire Agrippina was staged for the first time in late December 1709 - or possibly at the beginning of 1710 - at Venice’s Teatro San Grisostomo and met with enormous success, as testified by twenty-seven following performances, a record number even for 18th-century standards. Agrippina’s triumph sanctioned Handel’s definitive investiture as an operatic composer. After nearly 300 years this opera appears as a masterpiece of 18th-century music and an innovative work, considering that when Handel composed it he was just twenty-four years old. The composer’s melodic creativity and sense of theatre are quite remarkable. The cast, conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire, includes Véronique Gens in the title role. This double DVD, which follows the CD release of this work, will not fail to attract the interest of Baroque opera lovers. French, English, Italian, German and Spanish subtitles. “Fisbach's production gives an amusing account, respectful yet inventive, of librettist Vincenzo Grimani's look at the shenanigans of ancient Rome. Agrippina shares three characters with L'incoronazione di Poppea, but at an earlier stage of the story, Poppea here being pursued by Otho, Nero and the emperor Claudius. Agrippina, Claudius's wife, spends the opera scheming to discredit Otho and to get Nero, her son by a previous marriage, designated as the next emperor.
The mood is light and ironic, but with a darker side as well. Against a minimalist set, above which French surtitles are, disconcertingly, sometimes visible, the costumes are exaggeratedly 18th-century. Poppea's yards of chiffon conceal two suitors simultaneously in a scene that anticipates L'heure espagnole. Nero, with rouged cheeks, sports an aubergine wig; the wigs of the other characters include various degrees of red, with a striking raspberry shade for Poppea.
Otho wears no wig, perhaps to distinguish his genuine emotions from the buffoonery of Nero, Pallas and Narcissus.
In the accompanied recitative 'Otton, Otton' and the aria 'Voi che udite il mio lamento', with its aching suspensions in the strings, Thierry Grégoire gives moving expression to Otho's melancholy. As Claudius, Nigel Smith looks comically put out as Poppea fails to notice his preening, but strikes the right lyrical note with 'Vieni o cara'. To decorate the opening of 'Cade il mondo' and leave the da capo penny plain is surely to get things the wrong way round.
In the castrato role of Nero, Philippe Jaroussky shows an astonishing agility at soprano pitch. The penultimate aria, 'Come nube', is a tour de force. Ingrid Perruche has a nice lightness of touch for Poppea, as do Bernard Deletré as Pallas and Fabrice Di Falco as a mincing Narcissus.
To Véronique Gens fall two of this delightful opera's best numbers: the heartfelt 'Pensieri' and the jaunty 'Ogni vento'. If she doesn't quite plumb the depths of the first, her performance overall is sharp and amusing.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Handel: Agrippina, HWV 6Drama per musica in tre atti original version (Dec. 1709), Libretto di Vincenzo Grimani
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! “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.” Financial Times, 1st 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.” The Times, 7th 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.” The Guardian, 13th 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.” Sunday Times, 16th October 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” BBC Music Magazine, 01/12/2011 ***** “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.” International Record Review, November 2011 “surges with energy, with a stellar cast” New York Times, 20th November 2011 “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.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2012 “Jacobs's conducting is full of pep.” Classic FM Magazine, February 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 Arts Desk, 28th January 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” The Irish Times, 2nd March 2012 ***  BBC Music Magazine
Opera Choice - December 2011 |
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Handel: Agrippina, HWV 6Drama per musica in tre atti original version (Dec. 1709), Libretto di Vincenzo Grimani
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. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Handel: Agrippina, HWV 6
Handel's three-act opera seria Agrippina sets a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. The opera tells the story of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, as she plots the downfall of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the installation of her son as emperor. | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Handel: Agrippina, HWV 6
Véronique Gens (Agrippina), Philippe Jaroussky (Nerone), Ingrid Perruche (Poppea), Nigel Smith (Claudio),Thierry Grégoire (Ottone), Bernard Deletré (Pallante), Fabrice Di Falco (Narciso), Alain Buet (Lesbo) La Grande Ecurie et La Chambre du Roy, Jean-Claude Malgoire Agrippina was staged for the first time in late December 1709 - or possibly at the beginning of 1710 - at Venice’s Teatro San Grisostomo and met with enormous success, as testified by twenty-seven following performances, a record number even for 18th-century standards. Agrippina’s triumph sanctioned Handel’s definitive investiture as an operatic composer. After nearly 300 years Agrippina appears as a masterpiece of 18th-century music and an innovative work, considering that when Handel composed it he was just twenty-four years old. The composer’s melodic creativity and remarkable sense of theatre stand out, as does the title character of Véronique Gens in the cast conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire. | | | (also available to download from $38.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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BBC Music Magazine Awards 2012