Agrippina at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain


Agrippina

Handel, George Frideric (1685-1759)

Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain

SaturdayNovember 16-29, 2013 08:00pm

Credit: © Toma B, 2013 /Shuttersctock.comThis opera seria by Handel is a politically incorrect comedy about how to seize or hang on to power, the tale of a battle between female patricians. McVicar views this virtually wicked text in the light of the aesthetic of the most sophisticated soap operas of the 1980s. Agrippina and Poppea – the two great rivals – behave with the tyrannical confidence of the leading ladies of Dynasty or Falcon Crest, waging all-out war on stiletto heels, oblivious to ethical constraints or obstacles. Seduction and sex are mere tools for getting what they want, by fair means or foul. Yet paradoxically, the characters of this amoral farce are not caricatures. Three hundred years after its premiere, Agrippina still interests the audience because the protagonists are three-dimensional, almost Mozartian, in their human contradictions and complexity.

Opera seria in three acts. Libretto by Vincenzo Grimani. Music by George Frideric Handel. Premiered on 26 December 1709 at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice. First performance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Tickets 141.75€ to 8,50€.

Image credit: © Toma B, 2013 /Shuttersctock.com

Harry Bicket, Conductor
David McVicar, Director
John Macfarlane, Set Designer
Sarah Connolly, Mezzo-soprano: Agrippina
Malena Ernman, Mezzo-soprano: Nerone
Danielle de Niese, Soprano: Poppea
David Daniels, Countertenor: Ottone
Enric Martinez-Castignani, Baritone: Lesbo
Franz-Josef Selig, Bass: Claudius
Henry Waddington, Bass: Pallante
Dominique Visse, Countertenor: Narcissus
Andrew George, Choreography
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