Agrippina: A Baroque-Jazz Guide

Agrippina's plot is unravelling. She wishes to secure the Caesarian crown for her son and protect herself through alliances. But now she has fallen into the clutches of Il Giratempo.

The ensemble of “time transformers” is so stylistically adept that it lures the empress from ancient Rome over baroque mountains to jazz vistas. Theorbos glisten to Agrippina's mischievous vocals and the trumpet croons in the hands of Pascal Klewer, one of the most compelling artists the German jazz scene currently has to offer. With Il Giratempo, he carries Handel's tradition into the world of today: in his sixth opera, the baroque composer not only recycled his own material, but also pinched numerous ideas from colleagues. The fact that his Agrippina was celebrated above all for its dramaturgical and musical stringency goes to show that not every note has to come from the same pen to create an authentic masterpiece.