We are living in a golden age of Baroque opera performance. Over the course of the past 30 years, visionary musicians like William Christie, René Jacobs, Alan Curtis, Christophe Rousset, Nicolas McGegan and others have rescued Baroque operas from the dustbin of history with revelatory performances and recordings.
The early music movement planted the seeds of interest, but now the seeds have blossomed and Baroque opera is part of the operatic mainstream. Case in point, the Metropolitan Opera regularly mounts productions of Baroque operas and this season will be featuring two Baroque works. In November the Met will present Handel’s Rodelinda with a cast featuring soprano Renée Fleming, countertenor Andreas Scholl that’s conducted by early music specialist Harry Bicket. In December the company rolls out the big guns with a new production of a Baroque pastiche called The Enchanted Island. Baroque opera megastar William Christie will conduct the work that features music by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau and others. The cast is as starry as they come with Plácido Domingo, Danielle de Niese, Joyce DiDonato and David Daniels in principal roles. Baroque opera has arrived indeed.
The spectacle and vocal fireworks of Handel’s operas continue to dazzle nearly 300 years after they premiered. Our featured recording is Agrippina, a 1710 work that premiered in Venice and represents the pinnacle of Handel’s mastery of Italian opera. This tale of power politics and intrigue features soprano Alexandrina Pendatchanska in the fiery title role, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera as Nerone and the superb countertenor Bejun Mehta as Ottone.
In addition to the new Agrippina recording, you’ll want to take a look at some recordings of Baroque operas spanning Monteverdi’s early explorations to the polished elegance of the comédie lyrique of Jean Philippe Rameau.
by Craig Zeichner
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