Agrippina (opera) Agrippina (opera) Agrippina (HWV 6) is an "opera seria" in three acts by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. Composed for the Venice "Carnevale" season, the opera tells the story of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, as she plots the downfall of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the installation of her son as emperor. Grimani's libretto, considered one of the best that Handel set, is an "anti-heroic satirical comedy", full of topical political allusions. Some analysts believe that it reflects Grimani's political and diplomatic rivalry with Pope Clement XI. Handel composed "Agrippina" at the end of
Agrippina the Younger make him emperor. Britannicus was secretly poisoned on Nero's orders during his own banquet in February 55. The power struggle between Agrippina and her son had begun. Agrippina between 55 and 58 became very watchful and had a critical eye over her son. In 55, Agrippina was forced out of the palace by her son to live in imperial residence. Nero deprived his mother of all honors and powers, and even removed her Roman and German bodyguards. Nero even threatened his mother he would abdicate the throne and would go to live on the Greek Island of Rhodes, a place