Coronato il crin

"Agrippina" was one of Handel's earliest operas (composed at the very young age of 24) and one of his biggest first successes (the opera opened with a run of 27 successive nights of performance in Venice which was an extraordinarily long run at that time). Though not exactly one of Handel's better known works, I consider it a most telling example of the maestro's openly dramatic and realistic style, and one I quickly grew to admire, hence this series of my personal favorites from the work.

X. Aria for Ottone - "Coronato il crin d'alloro". We pass onto Act Two which opens with Ottone's joyous aria, as the hero celebrates his good fortune, as he is sure of both the populace's and Poppea's love for him. Musically, the aria, like most of the pieces in the opera accompanied solely by strings, is highlighted by several interesting compositional decisions, such as the common bass line for both the A and the B sections (in which Otho relishes the most beautiful prize: Poppea) of the aria, as well as the sheer immediacy of emotion depicted in a rather simple array of coloratura runs (especially, considering the other characters' much more colored music)

XI. Chorus for Tutti (except Giunone) - "Di timpani e trombe". It is very common for baroque operas to end with a choral number for the whole cast but here we have another inclusion: a triumphant ensemble, accompanied by horns, juxtaposing a number of different lines, including the men's robust music and the parallel coloratura runs of the women, which forms a quite attractive number (it is a pity that baroque composer's were not more open to composing ensembles, as it seems, to me, that it is the concentrated pieces hold some of the most delightful writing).

XII. Arietta for Ottone, Arietta for Poppera & Arietta for Nerone - "Nulla sperar da me", "Tuo ben e l trono" & "Sotto il lauro chhai sul crine". This is one of the most dramatically viable scenes of the whole opera, creating a succession of three short (but, strikingly, musically complete) arias, set apart with short recitative phrases for Ottone, unable to muster any kind of defense against such travesty, for both the scheming pair of Nerone and Agrippina and the confused Poppea, all of whom aim their acidic words at the shocked Ottone whose good fortune is being destroyed before his very eyes (just after the furious Claudio refuses to accept Ottone as a hero and his savior).

Della Jones - Agrippina (soprano or mezzo-soprano),
Derek Lee Ragin - Nerone (soprano castrato),
Donna Brown - Poppea (soprano),
Alastair Miles - Claudio (bass)
Ottone - Michael Chance - Ottone (originally contralto, here - countertenor),
George Mosley - Pallante (bass)
Jonathan Peter Kenny - Narciso (originally alto castrato, here - countertenor)
Julian Clarkson - Lesbo (bass).

Hope you'll enjoy :).