HANDEL : TAMERLANO

Handel's Tamerlane

Radio New Zealand Concert network
Sunday 26th of October 2008 at 3 - 6.20 pm
Sunday 7th of June 2009 at 3 - 6.10 pm

COMPOSER
BACKGROUND
INTRODUCTION
SYNOPSIS
REVIEW
SCORE!!

HANDEL: Tamerlano, an opera in three acts
Prusa (now Bursa) in Bithinia, 1402
Tamerlano (Timur the Tatar)..................... David Daniels
Bajazet (Bayezid I, Ottoman Turk Sultan)... Plácido Domingo
Asteria (his daughter).......................... Sarah Coburn
Andronico (Greek prince)..................... Patricia Bardon
Irene (princess of Trebizond, T's betrothed).... Claudia Huckle
Leone (friend of T and A).................. Andrew Foster-Lawrence
Washington National Opera Chorus & Orch/William Lacey (recorded in the National Opera, Washington by American Public Radio)

Notice the name Plácido Domingo; here he is (at his age!) singing a new tenor role, that of Bajazet, Emperor of the Ottoman Turks; and we know that the vocal lines of Haendel's scores move along speedily, spitting sparks.

What's this, an opera glorifying Timur the Tatar (Tamerlane, Persian Timur-i lang, Timur the lame, descendant and emulater of Jingghis Khan), the Lord of Samarqand and the Silk Road, the scourge of Asia, the sword of Islam, who collected infidel heads, and used skulls as building blocks? His name meant 'iron', and he ruled with a rod of iron. Well, what the Europeans liked about him was his conquest of the Ottoman Turks and his humiliation of their sultan Bayezid (here given a French name, Bajazet). Vivaldi had composed the same opera under the title Bajazet.

It was one of Handel's twenty-day miracles of composition (like Messiah), in 1724, following his Julius Caesar. This is one of the master's great operas. Note that this Washington production uses a later revision (1731), omitting a lot of recitative.

Notes on the history behind the opera and summaries of the plot are available by clicking on the headings above. No libretto available from the usual Italian source, but the musical score is on line!

Sunday 26th of October 2008 at 3 - 6.20 pm
Tamerlano (Timur the Tatar)..................... Nicholas Spanos
Andronico (Greek prince)..................... Mary-Elen Nesi
Bajazet (Bayezid I, Ottoman Turk Sultan)....Tassis Christoyannis
Asteria (his daughter).......................... Mata Katsuli
Irene (princess of Trebizond, T's betrothed)....Irini Karaianni
Leone (friend of T and A)........................... Petros Magoulas
Orchestra of Patras/George Petrou
(Dabringhaus & Grimm (MDG 609 1457)