OperaAgrippina
George Frideric Handel · 1709
Handel's audacious opera seria chronicles the ruthless machinations of Agrippina, the ambitious wife of Emperor Claudius, as she orchestrates an elaborate scheme to place her son Nero on the imperial throne. Amid a tangle of political intrigue, romantic entanglements, and shifting allegiances, the beautiful Poppea becomes a pawn in Agrippina's designs, while the noble general Ottone finds his virtue tested by love and ambition. With its satirical edge and vibrant musical invention, *Agrippina* subverts the conventions of opera seria through a darkly comic exploration of power, desire, and the corruption of the Roman court.