The story of Agrippina has all of these aspects in abundance, and opened, by pure chance, on the day the Labour Party Conference opened and a day before the Supreme Court judgment on the PM’s attempt to prorogue parliament. However, despite being in modern dress, this Royal Opera House production is set in ancient Rome and tells a rather exaggerated tale of the empress Agrippina, who was the wife of Claudius, sister of Caligula and mother of Nero.
The main ancient Roman historians, such as Tacitus and Suetonius, were always reluctant to let the facts interfere with a good story, so much of the history of the real Agrippina is in considerable double. She is said to have poisoned Claudius and other rivals in order to install Nero as Emperor, and Nero himself is said to have had her banished then executed. The story of Handel’s opera concentrates on the first of these accounts: Agrippina’s machinations to make her idiot son, here called Nerone, the emperor when she hears that Claudius has been drowned at sea.
Quite apart from her schemes to involve two of her lovers, Pannante and Narciso, in her plotting before she tries to get them to kill each other, she is soon faced with the little problem that Claudius has survived the shipwreck. Furthermore, she is not the only scheming woman in the story, but meets her match in the form of Poppea with whom Claudius is secretly in love.
All this romancing gets a bit complicated as Nerone wants to marry Poppea too, while Poppea herself is only interested in Ottone, who is the man who saved Claudius’s life. Not just a love triangle, this is a love pentagon and it provides great comic material for the Australian director Barrie Kosky who brings out the best in the acting abilities as well as the singing of a wonderful cast.
The American soprano Joyce DiDonato is outstanding in the title role, giving a glorious account of the all-powerful, all-scheming Agrippina. Her strong voice, impressive stamina, evident humour and apparently effortless ability to cope with all the vocal gymnastics of Handel’s gloriously demanding score all added up to a hugely enjoyable performance. This was perfectly matched by Lucy Crowe as Poppea whose role was slightly less demanding but performed in equally glorious fashion.
All the male roles in the cast were secondary to those two sopranos, but Franco Fagioli was impressive as Nerone and the silky voice of Iestyn Davies was glorious as Ottone.
The Russian conductor Maxim Emelyanychev also deserves special mention for the vigour and musically impressive manner in which he synchronised the orchestra and singers on his Royal Opera House debut. According to the programme, he has been conducting since he was 12 years old.
My only reservation about the production was the curious metal cube that served as a set almost devoid of scenery. On the one hand, this gave the singers full scope to display their talents, but from where I was sitting anyway, the bright strip lighting and glaring reflections on the metal surrounds were frequently distracting and sometimes even unpleasant.
Apart from that, it was a great evening.
Box office: 020 7304 4000 or roh.org.uk (until October 11).
