Which opera? (Get a grip, Pina)
UncategorizedTonight, Slippedisc courtesy of OperaVision, will take viewers to a palace theatre just outside Stockholm: Drottningholms slottsteater, one of the few 18th century theatres in Europe still using its original stage machinery.
The beautiful rococo backdrop is the starting point for this production ofHandel’s Agrippina. Bente Lykke Møller’s costumes and scenery place the male characters in grey togas, alongside Agrippina and Poppea, who travel through the centuries in women’s fashion (in discreet colours, with make-up and wigs by Sofia Ranow). This journey stops before the present day, perhaps leaving audiences to bridge the gap between the scheming heroine and figures in today’s world. If not political, director Staffan Valdemar Holm’s production is certainly comic, built around the egomania of one of opera’s most outrageous leading women, sung by Sweden star mezzo-soprano, Ann Hallenberg. The young Handel packed Agrippina with the full range of his astonishing imagination, setting a libretto at once hilarious, moving and clever. The Italian conductor and harpsichordist Francesco Corti, a regular collaborator of the orchestras Les Musiciens du Louvre and Il Pomo d’Oro, presides. Subtitles in English, Swedish and Italian.
The Plot: with her husband apparently drowned at sea, a scheming empress secures the throne for her son from another marriage. But the commander of the army has other ideas, and then the emperor returns, very much alive.
Available on Friday 27 January 2023 at 1900 CET / 1800 London / 1300 NY
What a complete joy this was! I enjoyed every last minute of it. Brilliantly comic and yet very moving music, which seemed to get better as the piece went on. Tireless and unflappable cast (except when called upon to flap about; you’ll see what I mean!). And what a delight to see them changing the scenery from below (?) the stage during the filming of the production. They used to employ old sailors in days gone by as they would understand the ropes better than anybody (again, you’ll see what I mean). Inspiring!
Delightful like springtime and Handel music!