So almost immediately following the release of the 2019-20 Met in HD schedule, which includes this opera, thisis announced on Operavision. COINCIDENCE?!? Well, I suppose it pretty much has to be, but it still seems pretty weird: Handel wrote forty-some operas, and you both just happened to hit on this one RIGHT NOW? Hmm! Well. Anyway.
So the title character is the scheming wife of the emperor Claudio (using the Italian legislature) and mother of the dimwitted Nerone, whom she wants to be emperor. The likewise-dimwitted Claudio died in a shipwreck, so things seem to be going her way, but then, whoops, he didn't die, and he's back (worth noting that their dimwittedness is at least in large part more in the production than the libretto--this could legitimately be played very differently). Also, there's Poppea, lusted after by both Claudio and Nerone, but in love with Ottone, and their romance is the central emotional thing. Anyway, in the end, Claudio agrees to make Nerone emperor for somewhat shaky reasons, and everyone's happy. No need to point out what a hash this all makes of real history! That's one of the most surprising and delightful things I've discovered via opera: the way these baroque composers were so willing to make history into this absolutely crazy fan-fiction.
This is a banger of an opera. There's just one killer aria after another, and the comedy works really well (though, again, it's not clear to me how much of that is from the text and how much of it wasi facilitated by the producer). I'm very willing to call it the best Handel I've seen. It's also, interestingly enough, by far the earliest Handel I've ever seen: Giulio Cesare is from 1724, Rodelinda 1725, and Serse 1738. I don't know if that's because of fundamental stylistic changes in his writing, but I'd love to see more and find out.
The production is...unusual. First, it's a modern-dress thing, which is cool and fine and fairly normal (Ottone is wearing a Tristan und Isolde t-shirt--I want one). What's odd is the staging; it starts out in an auditorium, which eventually starts revolving around for, presumably, reasons; later, we switch to a plain set of low stairs, with cheap columns that topple over when characters try to lean against them. It's all very strange; this review claims that it "mirror[s] the auditorium and enable[s] us to see our own agendas reflected in Agrippina’s machinations;" I can believe that that was the intent, I suppose, but to my mind, it really doesn't work in that sense. I know my personal agenda has never been to get rid of the emperor that my son might ascend to the throne.
In spite of all this, I thought it was fine; I had no real problems. This is helped out a lot by a brilliant cast, especially in the comic roles: Ashley Riches and Raffaele Pe are great as the buffoonish Claudio and Nerone; the latter in particular is hilarious, and he has a really strong, assertive countertenor voice that somehow sounds different than anyone else I've heard in the register. Then there's Stefanie True as a sneaky Poppea (probably a more important role than Agrippina herself, actually), likewise great. It's interesting to note that Ottone was originally a contralto role, though here's it's another countertenor--hey, you can't find any actually castrati, but there are plenty of contraltos about, so why not give the role to one of them? That would be my preference.
Still, whatever quibbling I can do aside, I loved this. It'll be very interesting to see how the Met production compares; however they do it, I anticipate significant tonal differences, bolstering my theory that Handel is in large part what you make of him.
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