Agrippina

At home with the Roman Emperor Claudius, everything is going haywire: His own wife Agrippina is sawing away at his throne. She is determined to see Nero, her son from her first marriage, sit on it. Claudius, on the other hand, wants the brave general Otho to succeed him. However, he loves Poppea more than power, while she in turn is desired by both Nero and Claudius. And so this confusion of emotions threatens Agrippina's artfully spun web of intrigue.

In his opera Agrippina, George Frideric Handel presents this story from Rome's not-so-good old days with a good dose of irony. At the same time, his music delicately explores the broad emotional spectrum of his protagonists and fathoms the touching spheres of the human soul with his own sensitive eye. It is therefore not surprising that the then 24-year-old composer was able to celebrate his international breakthrough with the premiere of his Agrippina in Venice in 1709.

In Italian with surtitles.