Agrippina

Lying, cheating, murder … there’s nothing quite like motherly love. The Roman noblewoman Agrippina was a helicopter parent for the ages. Glamorous, conniving, and desperate to see her son crowned emperor, she seduced, swindled, or simply dispatched anyone who stood in her way, and within a few years of her death, she had already become the stuff of legend. Roman writers wove endlessly colorful yarns about her, sprinkling her real-life exploits with deliciously dark details as readily as Agrippina (supposedly) sprinkled her enemies’ entrees with poison. All in all, her life could be boiled down to a single question: What wouldn’t you do for power?

Yet the composer George Frideric Handel and his librettist, Vincenzo Grimani, saw in Agrippina’s story much more than ruthlessness and cruelty: Amid the backstabbing and betrayal, they found the seeds of a story that could be very funny, too. Embracing the many competing romances at the story’s heart, they crafted a work that is as much soap opera as opera, as much sardonic farce as scorching social critique. “It is an intelligent piece,” director Sir David McVicar observes. “It is a scathing piece. It is very funny. And it tells a universal story, which is: People in high office often behave very, very badly to get there.” In order to highlight the story’s universality, McVicar has transported Agrippina from the first century to the twenty-first. As it turns out, the modern Roman Empire would be instantly recognizable, wickedly funny, and terrifyingly real.

This guide presents Agrippina as a window onto three different historical times and places: imperial Rome (where the story takes place), 18th-century Venice (where the opera was written), and the present day (when McVicar’s production is set). The materials on the following pages include a historical introduction to Agrippina and her family, a musical introduction to Baroque opera, biographical information on Handel and his collaborators, and classroom activities designed to bring Agrippina’s music and story to life. By delving into the opera’s music, poetry, and drama, this guide will forge interdisciplinary classroom connections, inspire critical thinking, and help students investigate how these three eras differ—and how they might be very much the same.

Included in the 2019-20 season of HD Live in Schools.

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About This Guide
This guide is intended to cultivate students’ interest in Agrippina, whether or not they have any prior acquaintance with opera or the performing arts. It includes activities for students with a wide range of musical backgrounds and seeks to encourage them to think about opera—and the performing arts as a whole—as a medium of both entertainment and creative expression. In particular, this guide will offer in-depth introductions to:
- The historical figures of Agrippina, Claudius, and Nero, and the ancient sources through which we know about their lives and deeds
- The structure and style of Baroque opera
- The political motivations behind both Vincenzo Grimani’s libretto and David McVicar’s staging
- Creative choices made by the artists of the Metropolitan Opera for this production
- The opera as a unified work of art, involving the efforts of composer, librettist, and Met artists
The Work
Production

Harry Bicket, Conductor

Sir David McVicar, Production
John Macfarlane, Set and Costume Designer
Paule Constable, Lighting Designer
Andrew George, Choreographer

This production was originally created by the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie / De Munt Brussels and adapted by the Metropolitan Opera.

Production a gift of Dunard Fund USA

Agrippina, HWV 6, edited for the hallische Händel-Ausgabe by John E. Sawyer. Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, U.S. and Canadian agent for Baerenreiter Verlag, publisher and copyright owner.
Starring
Curricular Connections