Georg Friedrich Händel: Agrippina – Véronique Gens & Philippe Jaroussky

Agrippina was staged for the first time in late December 1709 – or possibly at the beginning of 1710 – at Venice’s Teatro San Grisostomo and met with enormous success, as testified by twenty-seven following performances, a record number even for 18th-century standards. Agrippina’s triumph sanctioned Handel’s definitive investiture as an operatic composer. After nearly 300 years this opera appears as a masterpiece of 18th-century music and an innovative work, considering that when Handel composed it he was just twenty-four years old. The composer’s melodic creativity and sense of theatre are quite remarkable. The cast, conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire, includes Véronique Gens in the title role. This double DVD, which follows the CD release of this work, will not fail to attract the interest of Baroque opera lovers.