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Special offer. Handel: Agrippina

Joyce DiDonato (Agrippina), Elsa Benoit (Poppea), Luca Pisaroni (Claudio), Franco Fagioli (Nerone), Jakub Józef Orliński (Ottone), Andrea Mastroni (Pallante), Carlo Vistoli (Narciso), Biagio Pizzuti (Lesbo), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Giunone)

Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev

Handel: Agrippina

Awards:

This Agrippina jostles for top place among the opera’s complete recordings. Joyce DiDonato is matchless in the title role, most other cast members likewise outstrip their rivals and their vocal...

BBC Music Magazine, April 20205 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording)

More reviews

Special offer. Handel: Agrippina

Joyce DiDonato (Agrippina), Elsa Benoit (Poppea), Luca Pisaroni (Claudio), Franco Fagioli (Nerone), Jakub Józef Orliński (Ottone), Andrea Mastroni (Pallante), Carlo Vistoli (Narciso), Biagio Pizzuti (Lesbo), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Giunone)

Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev

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Awards:

This Agrippina jostles for top place among the opera’s complete recordings. Joyce DiDonato is matchless in the title role, most other cast members likewise outstrip their rivals and their vocal...

BBC Music Magazine, April 20205 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording)

More reviews

About

Joyce DiDonato has staked a powerful claim on the multi-faceted title role of Handel’s opera Agrippina. In the words of The Telegraph, she sings it with “authority, grandeur and high style”. She recently performed it to critical acclaim at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Maxim Emelyanychev, Chief Conductor of Il Pomo d’Oro. Joining them on this recording is a cast of established and rising stars that includes Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Franco Fagioli, Luca Pisaroni, Elsa Benoit and Jakub Józef Orliński.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR JOYCE DiDONATO’S AGRIPPINA – LIVE AT THE ROYAL OPERA, SEPTEMBER 2019

“combining tonal radiance with showstopping bravura, is a tour de force” Evening Standard

“Joyce DiDonato is absolute mistress of the title role, singing with authority, grandeur and high style” Daily Telegraph

“Joyce DiDonato is a mezzo at the height of her powers, and she brings force to the title role in this modern take on Handel” Financial Times

“DiDonato’s Agrippina seduces two courtiers and the audience within 10minutes … DiDonato gives her finest performance in this house for years” The Spectator

“Agrippina’s great soul-searching monologue Pensieri searingly sung by DiDonato … I have rarely heard her sing more beautifully than in her aria of reconciliation… DiDonato has done nothing better in this house (ROH)” Sunday Times

“DiDonato is magnificent” Sunday Express

“The star American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato sizzles and burns in the title role, on peak vocal and dramatic form with a witty array of inspired gestures” The Observer

  • Release date: 31st Jan 2020
  • Label: Erato
  • Catalogue number: 9029533658
  • Length: 3 hours 49 minutes
  • Genre:

Contents and tracklist

Handel: Agrippina
Work length3:44:57
Sinfonia
Track length3:37
"Nerone, amato figlio" (Agrippina, Nerone)
Track length2:42
"Col saggio tuo consiglio" (Nerone)
Track length4:54
"Per cosi grand'impresa" (Agrippina)
Track length0:34
"A' cenni tuoi sovrani" (Pallante, Agrippina)
Track length2:49
"La mia sorte fortunata" (Pallante)
Track length3:35
"Or che Pallante è vinto" (Agrippina)
Track length0:17
"Umile alle tue piante" (Agrippina, Narciso)
Track length2:04
"Volo pronto" (Narciso)
Track length3:26
"Quanto fa, quanto puote" (Agrippina)
Track length0:25
"L'alma mia fra le tempeste" (Agrippina)
Track length2:37
"Qual piacer" (Nerone)
Track length2:23
"Amici, al sen vi stringo" (Nerone)
Track length0:20
"Ecco chi presto" (Pallante, Narciso, Nerone)
Track length1:15
"Voi, che dell'alta Roma" (Agrippina)
Track length1:14
"Il tuo figlio / La tua prole" (Agrippina, Nerone, Narciso, Pallante)
Track length0:40
"Ma qual di liete trombe" (Agrippina)
Track length0:15
"Allegrezza, allegrezza!" (Lesbo)
Track length0:32
"Che sento!" (Lesbo, Pallante, Agrippina, Narciso, Nerone)
Track length1:31
"Alle tue piante, o Augusta" (Ottone, Pallante, Agrippina, Narciso, Nerone)
Track length2:52
"Augusta, amo Poppea" (Ottone, Agrippina)
Track length1:03
"Tu ben degno" (Agrippina)
Track length3:53
"L'ultima del gioir" (Ottone)
Track length0:26
"Lusinghiera mia speranza" (Ottone)
Track length3:55
"Vaghe perle" (Poppea)
Track length4:39
"Otton, Claudio, Nerone" (Poppea)
Track length0:17
"Signora, o mia signora!" (Lesbo, Poppea)
Track length1:05
"Di lieta nuova" (Lesbo, Agrippina, Poppea)
Track length1:17
"Perché invece di Claudio" (Poppea)
Track length0:20
"È un foco quel d'amore" (Poppea)
Track length2:12
"(Ma qui Agrippina viene)" [Agrippina, Poppea]
Track length3:04
"Ho un non so che nel cor" (Agrippina)
Track length2:10
"Cieli, quai strani casi" (Poppea)
Track length0:46
"Non veggo alcun" (Lesbo)
Track length0:28
"Pur ritorno a rimirarvi" (Claudio)
Track length3:46
"Ma, o ciel, mesta e confusa" (Claudio, Poppea)
Track length3:55
"Vieni, o cara" (Claudio)
Track length1:34
"(Che mai farò?)" [Poppea, Claudio]
Track length0:15
"Signor, signor, presto" (Lesbo, Claudio, Poppea)
Track length0:29
"E quando mai / Quando vorrai" (Poppea, Claudio, Lesbo)
Track length0:28
"Pur al fin se n'andò" (Poppea)
Track length0:21
"O mia liberatrice" (Poppea, Agrippina)
Track length0:56
"Non ho cor che per amarti" (Agrippina)
Track length5:14
"Se Ottone m'ingannò" (Poppea)
Track length0:16
"Se giunge un dispetto" (Poppea)
Track length2:14
"Dunque noi siam traditi" (Pallante, Narciso)
Track length0:55
"Coronato il crin d'alloro" (Ottone)
Track length3:11
"Roma, più ch'il trionfo" (Pallante, Narciso, Ottone)
Track length0:43
Prelude
Track length0:26
"Ecco il superbo" (Agrippina, Poppea, Nerone, Ottone, Narciso)]
Track length1:12
"Di timpani e trombe" (Poppea, Nerone, Agrippina, Ottone, Narciso, Pallante, Lesbo)
Track length1:26
"Nella Britannia vinta" (Claudio)
Track length0:33
"Cade il mondo" (Claudio)
Track length3:38
"Signor, quanto il mio cuore" (Agrippina, Claudio, Poppea, Nerone, Narciso, Pallante, Ottone)
Track length2:11
"Nulla sperar da me" (Agrippina)
Track length1:44
"E tu Poppea" (Ottone)
Track length0:05
"Tuo ben è il trono" (Poppea)
Track length1:34
"Soccorri almen Nerone" (Ottone)
Track length0:05
"Sotto il lauro" (Nerone)
Track length2:09
"Scherzo son"(Ottone, Narciso, Pallante, Lesbo)
Track length0:37
"Otton, otton" (Ottone)
Track length1:05
"Voi ch'udite" (Ottone)
Track length4:54
"Spera, alma mia" (Poppea)
Track length4:09
"Il tormento d'Ottone" (Poppea)
Track length0:26
"(Par che amor sia)" [Poppea]
Track length0:14
"Vaghe fonti" (Ottone)
Track length1:44
"Ma qui che veggo" (Ottone, Poppea)
Track length1:32
"Fantasme della mente" (Poppea, Ottone)
Track length3:40
"Ti vuo' giusta" (Ottone)
Track length2:10
"Da quali ordite trame" (Poppea)
Track length0:35
"Ingannata una sol volta" (Poppea)
Track length1:33
"Pur alfin ti ritrovo" (Lesbo, Poppea)
Track length1:05
"A non pochi perigli" (Poppea)
Track length0:24
"Son qui, mia vita" (Nerone, Poppea)
Track length1:20
"Col peso del tuo amor" (Poppea)
Track length3:33
"Qual bramato piacere" (Nerone)
Track length0:17
"Quando invita" (Nerone)
Track length3:47
"Pensieri, voi mi tormentate" / "Quel ch'oprai" (Agrippina)
Track length6:36
"Se ben nemica sorte" (Pallante, Agrippina)
Track length1:07
"Col raggio placido" (Pallante)
Track length2:54
"Di giunger non dispero" (Agrippina)
Track length0:09
"Or è tempo" (Agrippina, Narciso)
Track length0:53
"Spererò, poiché mel dice" (Narciso)
Track length2:19
"Per dar la pace al core" (Agrippina)
Track length0:21
"A vagheggiar io vengo" (Claudio, Agrippina)
Track length3:29
"Signor, Poppea" (Lesbo, Claudio, Agrippina)
Track length0:43
"Basta che sol tu chieda" (Claudio)
Track length2:12
"Favorevol la sorte" (Agrippina)
Track length0:23
"Ogni vento" (Agrippina)
Track length4:24
"Il caro Otton" (Poppea)
Track length0:23
"Ah, mia Poppea" (Ottone, Poppea)
Track length1:46
"Tacerò" (Ottone)
Track length3:54
"Attendo qui Nerone" (Poppea)
Track length0:15
"Anelante ti reco" (Nerone, Poppea, Ottone)
Track length1:31
"Coll'ardor del tuo bel core" (Nerone)
Track length2:13
"Amico ciel" (Poppea)
Track length0:25
"Qui non v'è alcun" (Lesbo, Claudio, Poppea, Nerone, Ottone)
Track length3:48
"Temerario insolente" (Claudio, Nerone, Poppea, Ottone)
Track length0:49
"Ora, Claudio, che dici?" (Poppea, Claudio)
Track length1:30
"Io di Roma" (Claudio)
Track length2:43
"Pur alfin se n'andò" (Poppea)
Track length0:22
"Ora Ottone, che dici?" (Poppea, Ottone)
Track length1:38
"Pur ch'io ti stringa al sen" (Ottone)
Track length3:41
"Piega pur del mio cor" (Poppea)
Track length0:19
"Bel piacere" (Poppea)
Track length1:41
"Cotanto osò Poppea?" (Agrippina, Nerone)
Track length1:31
"Come nube" (Nerone)
Track length4:25
"Evvi donna più empia?" (Pallante, Narciso)
Track length0:46
"Agrippina, Nerone" (Claudio, Pallante, Narciso)
Track length1:57
"Adorato mio sposo" (Agrippina, Claudio, Pallante, Narciso)
Track length6:10
"Se vuoi pace" (Agrippina)
Track length3:58
"Ecco la mia rivale" (Agrippina, Poppea, Nerone, Ottone, Claudio)
Track length4:24
"Lieto il Tebro" (Agrippina, Poppea, Claudio, Nerone, Ottone, Pallante, Narciso, Lesbo, Giunone)
Track length0:45
"D'Ottone e di Poppea" (Giunone)
Track length0:22
"V'accendano le tede" (Giunone)
Track length2:28
Gigue
Track length0:53
Sarabande
Track length1:58
Bourrée
Track length1:11
Menuet
Track length0:54
Passacaille
Track length4:45
Handel: Fa' quanto vuoi (from Agrippina)
Work length2:03
Handel: No, no, ch'io non apprezzo (from Agrippina)
Work length2:20

Spotlight on this release

Awards and reviews

  • Record Review
    11th January 2020
    Record of the Week
  • Presto Recording of the Week
    31st January 2020
  • Gramophone Magazine
    March 2020
    Editor's Choice
  • BBC Music Magazine
    April 2020
    Opera Choice
  • Opus Klassik Awards
    2020
    Nominee - Female Singer of the Year (DiDonato)
  • Opus Klassik Awards
    2020
    Nominee - Conductor of the Year
  • Gramophone Awards
    2020
    Winner - Opera
  • Presto Recordings of the Year
    Finalist 2020
  • BBC Music Magazine Awards
    2021
    Shortlisted - Opera
  • Grammy Awards
    63rd Awards (2021)
    Nominee - Best Opera Recording

April 2020

This Agrippina jostles for top place among the opera’s complete recordings. Joyce DiDonato is matchless in the title role, most other cast members likewise outstrip their rivals and their vocal qualities are ideal for their dramatis personae. Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev repeatedly hits the sweet spot in his tempos, dynamics and realisations, the score aiming to mirror Handel’s lost original.
5 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording)

24th January 2020

DiDonato has the opportunity to show everything she can do. She uses her ease at the top of her voice to spin beautiful lines and sharpens Agrippina’s claws with her fearsome ornamentation...
Emelyanychev gets vital playing from his period-instrument ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro at the price of sometimes exaggerated effects.
4 out of 5 stars

March 2020

Benoit is a delectable Poppea, both knowing and sympathetic…Orliński sings with rounded tone and a sure feeling for Handelian line…Emelyanychev’s direction of his responsive band combines fizzing theatrical energy with due regard for the opera’s more reflective moments. With DiDonato nonpareil in the title-role and a uniformly strong cast, this now becomes a first choice for Handel’s Venetian masterpiece.

May 2020

DiDonato’s extraordinarily vivid portrayal alone ensures that this will be the Agrippina for many years to come…Benoit is a bright, fresh Poppea...Orlinski brings his much admired tonal beauty to the role, though his diction in recitatives leaves something to be desired. Franco Fagioli’s Nerone is a mixed blessing...Emelyanychev’s direction is full of verve and spirit, drawing committed and splendidly accomplished playing from Il Pomo d’Oro that admirably complements the est, invention and wit of the young Handel’s score.

31st January 2020

DiDonato's thrilling, expressive coloratura and imperious top notes are as on-point as ever, but what makes this interpretation special is her sheer plausibility...turns in a performance of real emotional depth as Ottone…In an opera with such a preponderance of medium-high voices, it helps that his timbre is so immediately distinguishable from that of Fagioli. [Emelyanychev's] imaginative, often witty continuo contributions always enhance rather than intrude.

12th January 2020

DiDonato is mistress of all she surveys as his scheming empress, with an expressive palette and tonal beauty to match the finest Handelians, as well as enviable breath control. Emelyanychev sets the seal on an outstanding set with conducting that sizzles with theatricality.
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