MET 2019/2020 - G. F. Händel: Agrippina
Opera Broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera, MET premier, first time in HD, 225 min, 2020
In Italian with English and Hungarian subtitles
Director: Sir David McVicar
Conductor: Harry Bicket, Set and Costume Designer: John Macfarlane, Lighting Designer: Paule Constable, Choreographer: Andrew George
Cast: Brenda Rae (Poppea), Joyce DiDonato (Agrippina), Kate Lindsey (Nerone), Iestyn Davies (Ottone), Duncan Rock (Pallante), Matthew Rose (Claudio)
Inthe Met’s first-ever performances of Agrippina, Handel’s satire of sex and power politics, Sir David McVicarreconceives a production he originally created for the Monnaie in Brussels in 2000, evoking a scandalous world in which the Roman Empire never fell but simply kept going rightup to the present. Holding a distorted mirror to contemporary society (as Handel did when he staged this opera), the production presents the corrupt intrigues of the political classes, brought to life by Joyce DiDonatoas the power-hungry empress Agrippina, Brenda Raeas the scheming, seductive Poppea, and Kate Lindseyas the feckless teenager Nerone. Iestyn Davies portrays the ambitious officer Ottone, and Matthew Roseis the emperor Claudius, on whose vacated throne Agrippina is determined to install herson. Renowned for his interpretations of the Baroque repertoire, Harry Bicketconducts.
