All tagged Joyce DiDonato
It is over 300 years since the premiere of this operatic masterpiece by Handel, who was 24 years old at the time of composition. It depicts a Roman story of some 2,000 years ago, satirising the politicians of that day. But of course in this very modern interpretation of this piece by the Director David McVicar, whilst the times have changed the world certainly hasn’t. The Metropolitan Opera’s General Manager Peter Gelb said ‘Agrippina is a dark comedy about corrupt leaders who lie and manipulate in their quest to stay in power. We are grateful to the White House for making Agrippina feel more immediate’.
In a joint production with Munich and four other Opera Houses the opera director Barrie Kosky has put together an interesting and illuminating up-to-date version of Handel’s earliest complete opera, which premiered in 1707 in Venice.
Gioachino Rossini was born in 1792 and was a prodigious composer of operas – composing 39 altogether. At the age of 31 he composed his last opera in Italy, being Semiramide, which had its premiere in 1823 in Venice. The music recreated the Baroch tradition of decorative singing with unparalleled skill. The ensemble scenes, particularly the duos between Arsace and Semiramide, together with the choruses, are of an extremely high order.
