Agrippina in the Turku Concert Hall, the 2nd of June, 2019

I am sure everybody knows by now that I am a big Handel fan. So, the head start performance of the Turku Music Festival – Handel’s “Agrippina” as a concert version – was an anticipated event to me. It was a true baroque music ”dream team” performance, since the orchestra was Il Pomo d’Oro and the quality of the singers was equally high. Even though it was a concert version, the performers were world class and created a proper opera on the stage despite the lack of costume and sets.

In the story of ”Agrippina” the main narrative is about the Roman emperor Claudio, his wife Agrippina and her son Nerone. During the whole opera Agrippina conspires to get his son on the throne and in the end she does succeed. In a parallel story line young lovers Poppea and Ottone aim to get married battling against Agrippina’s intrigues and Nerone’s infatuation of Poppea.   

”Agrippina” does not have any famous hit arias, but all in all the music is splendid. Il Pomo d’Oro and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, who moved behind his cembalo in a very energetic way, played mesmerizingly.

But it was the singers who made the evening. Mezzosoprano Samatha Hankey as Agrippina was breathtaking. Beautiful like a Roman sculpture and with facial expressions and gestures that could tell a whole story, she had a bright voice that enchanted the audience. It was so easy to believe that Agrippina could twist the men in her life whichever way she wanted.   

The second unbelievable performer was countertenor Franco Fagioli as Nerone. A countertenor, whose range is three octaves and he really could use his voice! In addition to which, he totally became the slimy Nerone on the stage. WOW!

I am just about speechless in front of this performance. You do not have a chance to see such high quality an opera every day and they even had three countertenors in it! For once it was possible to hear how different voice types even countertenors can have. A truly memorable evening! Turku Music Festival proved once again that they catch world class performances. I recommend following their web site http://www.turunmusiikkijuhlat.fi/.