(Photo credit: Matthias Horn) “Agrippina” from the Händel Festival 2025, is a glittering, cynical comedy of ambition, soaked in psychological warfare. This production plunges Agrippina into a dazzling contemporary world that is as intriguing as its Roman origins. Director Walter Sutcliffe and set designer Aleksandar Denic have boldly reimagined the Roman Senate as the glittering interior of a Las Vegas-style {…}
(Foto: Monika Rittershaus / Courtesy of Opernhaus Zürich) George Frideric Händel composed “Agrippina” during his Italian tour, a work that marked a pivotal moment in his career. It solidified his grasp of Italian opera, represented his first genuine operatic triumph, and remains the earliest of his operas for which the complete score has survived intact. The libretto, written by Cardinal {…}
(Credit: Markus Gårder) The Drottningholms Slottsteater in Sweden was forced to cancel the premiere of Georg Friedrich Händel’s opera “Agrippina” due to COVID-19. On August 7, 2021, the theater’s General Manager Anna Karinsdotter alongside director Staffan Valdemar Holm informed the audience that one of the singers in the production tested positive for the virus and as result, the theater was {…}
The Florida Grand Opera has announced its 2021-22 season featuring four productions and celebrating its 80 anniversary. Andre Previn’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” opens the season in January. Performance Dates: Jan. 22-Feb. 5, 2022 Verdi’s masterpiece “Rigoletto” takes the stage in March with audiences getting a chance to hear some of the most popular melodies in opera. Performance Dates: March {…}
The Hamburg State Opera will reopen on May 28 with two productions. Georges Delnon and John Neumeier announced that the company will premiere a new production of Handel’s “Agrippina” staged by Barrie Kosky. Riccardo Minasi will conduct a cast that includes Anna Bonitatibus, Luca Tittoto, Julia Lezhneva, Christophe Dumaux, Franco Fagioli, Renato Dolcini, Vasily Khoroshev, and Chao Deng. The Ensemble {…}
(Credit: Chris Singer) In Gramophone’s Opera recording of the year, Handel’s “Agrippina” with Erato Records, there are many shinning vocal performances, including those by Joyce DiDonato, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Franco Fagioli, and Luca Pisaroni, to name but a few. Luca Pisaroni wows the listener in the role of the bumbling Emperor Claudio. Pisaroni is perhaps best-known these days for his work {…}
San Francisco’s Pocket Opera has announced the second of its three virtual mini-concerts comprising the company’s aptly named PocketWatches series. “Handel with Care” features soprano Marcelle Dronkers and pianist Jefferson Packer performing arias from Handel’s “Agrippina,” “Alcina,” and “Rinaldo.” The concert will stream on Sunday, April 18, 2021, at 3:00 P.M. PDT, on Pocket Opera’s Facebook and YouTube channels. The {…}
(Credit: Studioline Photography / Xavier Sabata official website / Ascolta Artists official website) The Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España has announced that it will perform a version of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” for two pianos and the percussion on Feb. 12-14, 2021. The showcase will be presented by the Coro Nacional, and the percussion section of the Orquesta Nacional {…}
(Credits: Sandrine Expilly / Bertie Watson) The Gramophone has announced its 2020 Awards. The top Opera recording went to the Erato’s release of Handel’s “Agrippina”, featuring Joyce DiDonato, Elsa Benoit, Luca Pisaroni, Franco Fagioli, Jakub Józef Orliński, Andrea Mastroni, Carlo Vistoli, Biagio Pizzuti, and Marie-Nicole Lemieux. Maxim Emelyanychev conducted the Il Pomo d’Oro orchestra. Sandrine Piau received the Recital prize {…}
Credit: Gregor Hohenberg/Sony Gramophone has announced the recordings that have advanced to the final round of the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2020. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on vocal, choral, and opera categories. The first contestant in the opera category is the Barber’s “Vanessa,” performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Glyndebourne Chorus, under the musical {…}
We are reaching an interesting point in the summer for the opera world. Europe has essentially returned to “normalcy” as far as performances go. That also means an increasing lack of online content for operagoers from Europe’s biggest houses. Meanwhile, the rest of the opera world is in a transitional phase. With most companies preparing for digital starts to their {…}