Ann Hallenberg: Agrippina
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Giacomo Antonio Perti, George Frideric Handel, Carl Heinrich Graun, Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Mattheson, Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Paolo Giuseppe Magni, Giovanni Legrenzi
Genre:
Opera
Label: Deutsche Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 07/2015
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 74
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 88875 05598-2

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Nerone fatto Cesare, Movement: Date all'armi o spirti fieri |
Giacomo Antonio Perti, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Giacomo Antonio Perti, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
(L')Agripinna, Movement: Mormorando anch'il ruschello |
Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Il Pomo d'Oro Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
(L')Agripinna, Movement: Con troppo fiere immagini |
Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Il Pomo d'Oro Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Britannico, Movement: Se la mia vita, o figlio |
Carl Heinrich Graun, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Carl Heinrich Graun, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Britannico, Movement: Mi paventi il figlio indegno |
Carl Heinrich Graun, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Carl Heinrich Graun, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Nerone, Movement: Tutta furie e tutta sdegno |
Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Nero, Movement: Gia tutto valore |
Johann Mattheson, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Il Pomo d'Oro Johann Mattheson, Composer Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Agrippina, Moglie di Tiberio, Movement: Non ho più vele |
Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Agrippina, Moglie di Tiberio, Movement: Deh, lasciami in pace |
Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Germanico sul Reno, Movement: O soavi tormenti dell'alma |
Giovanni Legrenzi, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Giovanni Legrenzi, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Agrippina, Movement: Ogni vento |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano George Frideric Handel, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Agrippina, Movement: ~ |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano George Frideric Handel, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Agrippina, Movement: L'alma mia |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano George Frideric Handel, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Germanicus, Movement: Rimembranza crudel |
Georg Philipp Telemann, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Georg Philipp Telemann, Composer Il Pomo d'Oro Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Nerone Infante, Movement: Date all'armi o spiriti fieri |
Paolo Giuseppe Magni, Composer
Ann Hallenberg, Mezzo soprano Il Pomo d'Oro Paolo Giuseppe Magni, Composer Riccardo Minasi, Conductor |
Author: Richard Wigmore
With her gleaming high mezzo, evenly produced over a wide range, dazzling agility (no hint of aspirates in the reams of coloratura) and specific sense of character, Ann Hallenberg does this trio of ladies proud. The mingled energy and supple ease of her singing in the first number, a cheerfully bellicose aria from Perti’s Nerone fatto Cesare, sets a template for the whole recital. As the unlovely Julia Agrippina, Hallenberg rants and seethes to thrilling effect in a horn-fuelled bravura aria by Graun. In another ‘rage’ aria by the almost forgotten Giuseppe Orlandini, she achieves the tricky feat of seeming to go berserk in the da capo without coarsening her tone, abetted by percussive, no-holds-barred playing from the ever-lively Il Pomo d’Oro.
In Handel’s ‘Ogni vento’, with its delicious Ländler lilt, Hallenberg exudes a mounting joy at the prospect of making her monster adolescent son Nero emperor. Subtly colouring her tone, she realises each emotional twist and turn of the anguished scena ‘Pensieri, voi mi tormentate’, where Handel manages to elicit a measure of sympathy for his anti-heroine.
As Vipsania Agrippina, Hallenberg rides the waves imperiously in a flamboyant nautical aria by Sammartini, egged on by braying trumpets. In the music for her long-suffering half-sister, she warms and softens her tone, whether in a pair of gentle, touching numbers by Porpora or a poignant aria by Telemann, saturated by bittersweet suspensions. The orchestra is closely miked in the resonant acoustic, occasionally to the detriment of the voice. But this barely detracts from an enterprising recital of fine, largely unknown music, performed with style, flair and tonal beauty by a mezzo unsurpassed in Baroque opera today.
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.

Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.