You need To Check this Handel Agrippina Veronique Gens
Yeah, yeah, the fright wigs are hideous and the costume s are kitsch. The silent spectres that lurk around the edges of the scenes are pretentious and distracting. There are no visual rewards in the production, despite some fine camera work and editing. It's 'yo mamma' ugly. The only virtue of such creepy visuals is that your eyes are not distracted from the sub-titles.
But the singing! OMG! I've never heard better singing, from the whole cast, live on stage , on CD, or on any other Handel DVD. Soprano Veronique Gens is transcendent in the role of Agrippina, but soprano Ingrid Perruche is almost as good as Poppea. Male soprano Philippe Jaroussky has to be considered a gift from the Gods of Music to our undeserving generation; he sings the role of the decadent boy Nero with such sly inflections of malevolence that even his purple Afro can be ignored. Countertenor Thierry Gregoire is handicapped by wearing the only non-absurd costume in the production, making him look helplessly wimpy, but when he gets an aria to sing he delivers such suave vocal control that his hapless physical presence is forgiven. Bass Nigel Smith sings a robust but graceful Claudius. There isn't an awkward ornament or a dubious tuning to be heard in the entire ensemble. Likewise the orchestra and continuo: superb tuning, rhythmic perfection, complete authority of style! Even seated in his office chair at the podium, conductor Jean-Claude Malgoire coaxes both high energy and tasteful delicacy out of his period-instrument orchestra. The music al values of this production are too great to carp about costume s, or to deduct a star from one's rating. Music ally, this is the best Handel currently available on DVD.
Agrippina was composed for an English audience while Handel's heart and mind were still in Italy. In fact, several of the best arias were recycled from cantatas that Handel had composed in Rome. It helps, I think, to have singers like Gens and Jaroussky, and a whole cast of Romance language speakers, singing this highly Italianate opera. Their pronunciation/art iculation is precise and proper enough to be understood, and their ensemble is tightened by their shared sense of the language.
Two previous reviewers have criticized the acting of these singers. Once again, I have to say that their best defense is the quality of their vocal technique. Nevertheless, given the ludicrous costume s, I didn't find the acting so shabby. Each character is assigned a single constant affect -- that's the dramaturgical scheme here -- and each maintains her/his affect effectively. Nerone is a perverse little creep, a spoiled mama's boy who (we know) will have his mama murdered as soon as he gets a chance. Poppea is a sly slut. Agrippina is "a pit bull with lipstick" who fully expects to be the real emperor once her silly boy Nero is enthroned.
The sound recording on opera DVDs DOES matter. Fortunately, in this case the techies were as good as the performers. This Agrippina is an acoustical milestone.
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