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Program

George Frideric Handel, Tamerlano, HWV 18

Overture & Minuet

I: "Esci, esci, o signore"

I: "Son bajazet ancora"

I: "Vuor dar pace a un alma altera"

I: "Il tartaro ama asteria"

I: "Bella Asteria il tuo cor mi defenda"

I: "Non e piu tempo, Asteria"

I: "Dammi pace, o volto Amato"

I: "Serve asteria di prezzo al greco infido"

I: "Non ascolto piu nulla"

I: "Cielo e terra armi di sdegno"

I: "Asteria: non parlate?"

I: "Deh! lasciatemi il nemico"

I: "Cosi la sposa il Tamerlano accoglie?"

I: "Dal crudel, che m'ha tradita"

I: "Chi vide mai piu sventurato amante?"

I: "Benche mi sprezzi"

II: "Amico, tengo un testimon fedele"

II: "Bella gara che faranno"

II: "Ah, no! dove trascorri"

II: "Cerco in vano di placare"

II: "Signor, vergine illustre"

I: "Non si perda di vista"

II: "Par che mi nasca in seno"

II: "Amor dà guerra e pace"

II: "A suoi piedi padre esangue"

II: "Al Soglio"

II: "Voglio stragi"

II: "No, no il tuo sdegno"

II: "No, che del tuo gran cor"

III: "Figlio, siam rei"

II: Cor di padre

III: "A dispetto d'un volto ingrato"

III: "Vivo in te, mio caro bene"

III: "Crudel più non son io"

III: "Principessa infelice"

III: "Nel mondo e nell'abisso"

III: "Eccoti, Bajazete"

III: "Padre, amante"

III: "Andronico, il mio amore"

III: "Folle sei, se lo consenti"

III: "E il soffrirete"

III: "Empio, per farti guerra"

III: "Signor, fra tante cure"

III: "Vieni, Asteria"

III: "Oh, per me lieto"

III: "Fremi, minaccia"

III: "Figlia mia, non pianger"

III: "Tu, spietato, il vedrai"

III: "Barbaro! alfin sei sazio ancor?"

III: "D'atra notte gia mirasi a scorno"

Handel's Tamerlano

Pierre Audi (stage director), Christophe Rousset (conductor) — With Christophe Dumaux (Tamerlano), Jeremy Ovenden (Bajazete), Sophie Karthäuser (Asteria)

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Cast

Pierre Audi — Stage director

Patrick Kinmonth — Set designer, costume designer

Matthew Richardson — Lighting designer

Christophe Dumaux — Tamerlano

Jeremy Ovenden — Bajazete

Sophie Karthäuser — Asteria

Delphine Galou — Andronico

Program notes

Born in Germany, trained in Italy and nationalized English, the composer born Georg Friederich Händel was one of the most important, innovative, and cosmopolitan opera composers of the Baroque period (1600-1750), a true man of the theatre. In a span of just 20 days in 1724—the same year he created Giulio Cesare and Rodelinda—Handel wrote Tamerlano.

With his inexhaustible melodic inventiveness, Handel knew how to evoke the complex humanity of operatic characters, alternating recitatives (a mixture of speech and song), arias (showpieces for the vocalists’ prowess), and choral numbers to shape works of polished intensity—so highly prized that they spurred commercial competition between opera houses in the same city. This competitive environment, as well as the incessant public demand for new and more striking operas, inspired composers like Handel to explore avant-garde approaches (much as today’s music industry does to pop stars!).

In Tamerlano, Handel defied rules both written and tacit—offering a main role to a mature tenor at a time when the castrato voice dominated; and not shying away from shocking scenes that other composers approached hesitantly, like suicide. Pierre Audi’s elegant, minimalist staging allows an all-star cast of singers to highlight the work’s many dramatic elements, proving that Baroque opera can still move and thrill us as it did 300 years ago!

A closer look: featured composers

George Frideric Handel