After his acclaimed explorations of such Handel operas as Giulio Cesare and Rinaldo, René Jacobs now tackles the first great operatic success of the ‘caro Sassone’ (Venice, 1710), the climax of his Italian period. This version reconstructs the work in its original conception, the only one to combine explosive topicality with extreme dramatic cogency. As a result, this tale of amorous intrigues against a background of Roman history, the ‘prequel’ to Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, emerges more fascinating than ever.

Cast:
- Alexandrina Pendatchanska (Agrippina)
- Jennifer Rivera (Nerone)
- Sunhae Im (Poppea)
- Bejun Mehta (Ottone)
- Marcos Fink (Claudio)
- Neal Davies (Pallante)
- Dominique Visse (Mago Narciso)
- Daniel Schmutzhard (Lesbo)

“As far as I know, no one until now has discussed an ‘original’, Ur-version of Handel’s youthful opera and first great success Agrippina. At the most there has been comment on isolated additional numbers in the third act which are not to be found in the main body of the autograph, and others which were crossed out in the autograph (in pencil, so that everything is still perfectly legible) and replaced by ‘different’ pieces. Our edition (staged in a new production by Vincent Boussard at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin in 2009) reconstructs Handel’s original concept, which can undoubtedly be traced back to his librettist. Only this Ur-version combines the explosive political topicality of the piece with a dramatic cogency not possessed by the opera actually premiered in Venice, even though this is the standard version today and also served as the basis for the Neue Hallische Händel-Ausgabe edition.” - René Jacobs

Bonus DVD:
Meet all the participants in this film made by Nayo Titzin in 2005 at the time of the Berlin production. Director Vincent Boussard explains his theatrical conception of the opera, while René Jacobs reveals all about his highly metaphysical work!

3 CDs + DVD Limited Edition