The 2019-20 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season continues with its first-ever Saturday matinee broadcast of Agrippina, Handel’s satire about the lust for power in ancient Rome. The work dates from 1709, making it the oldest opera ever broadcast from the Met.
Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato stars in the title role as the Empress who will stop at nothing to make sure her son inherits the throne. Brenda Rae makes her network broadcast debut as the alluring Poppea; Kate Lindsey is Nerone, Agrippina’s feckless son Nero; Iestyn Davies is the commander Ottone, favored to become ruler; and Matthew Rose is Agrippina’s husband, the Emperor Claudio.
Baroque expert Harry Bicket conducts the Met Orchestra while also playing harpsichord in the pit. The production by David McVicar brings this story of political and personal intrigue into the current day.
Agrippina will be heard live over Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 29.
To view an English translation of the libretto, click here.