With the fifth new production of Handel’s Agrippina in the history of Halle Opera, two world stars will be making their first appearance at the Handel Festival on the Saale: the British conductor Laurence Cummings, formerly director of the Handel Festivals in London and Göttingen and today music director at the Academy of Ancient Music London, and the Serbian scenic designer Aleksandar Denić, known for his powerful graphic creations for Emir Kusturica and Frank Castorf. Together with Walter Sutcliffe, they are creating a vibrant new perspective on Handel’s youthful work. Romelia Lichtenstein leads an international cast of prominent guest singers and ensemble members. This melodious comedy of oversized egos in a dysfunctional First Family gave the 24-year-old composer his breakthrough. It shows a society driven by greed for power, vanity, cunning and stupidity in a complex plot with numerous, fortuitous reversals of situation.

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Agrippina

The Opera Halle

Kicking off this “Italian” Handel Festival is the historic revival of the first Italian version of Alexander’s Feast. It was an English Lord who infected the Grand Duke of Tuscany – later Emperor Leopold II – with a love of Handel’s oratorios. On 21 April 1768, the first ever performance of Alexander’s Feast on the continent took place in Lord Cowper’s villa outside the gates of Florence, followed two days later by a performance

Händelfestspielorchester Halle

6 - 15 Jun, 2025

Agrippina

Jun 5, 2025

Alexander's Feast

Händelfestspielorchester Halle