Renate Arends deftly traces Poppea's high-speed coloratura

THE SONGBIRD: Renate Arends was born in The Hague. She graduated from the Royal Conservatory and attended the International Opera Centrum Nederland where sang Susanna, Sister Constance, Drusilla, Fanny, and Adele in "Die Fledermaus." Her professional operatic debut was with De Nederlandse Opera in Monteverdi’s "L’Orfeo." In Belgium she sang Musetta, Frasquita, and Euridice. Other operatic roles have included Thérèse ("Les Mamelles de Tirésias"), Zaide, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, Belinda, and Jephte. Arends's resume includes many engagements as a soloist in concert works by Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Handel, Brahms, and Rutter.

THE MUSIC: "Agrippina" (HWV 6) was Handel's second Italian opera, composed for the Venice Carnevale season, where it premiered in 1709. It had a very successful run and occasional productions emerged in the following years, but it fell out of fashion, along with most of Handel's operas, in the mid-18th century. “Agrippina” was revived in the 20th century and has become more prevalent on stages and recordings, including a production at Metropolitan Opera in 2020. The opera focuses on Agrippina, who connives to install her son Nero as the emperor of Rome -- a baroque diva turn to be sure. The secondary role is Poppea, the first of Handel's "sex kittens," a self-absorbed flirt and a liar. "Se giunge un dispetto" comes in Act One -- Poppea promises to take revenge if rumors that Otho will betray her turn out to be true.