H?ndel: Tamerlano
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Free Music Notes for H?ndel: Tamerlano
Free Music Review: The Choice for Tamerlano
Hit: 5 Stars
Tamerlano is undeniably one of Handel's great dramatic achievements, an opera I respect very much but for which I harbor little affection. The plot is unrelievedly gloomy - think of Verdi's La Forza del Destino without the local color scenes, Preziosilla or Fra Melitone. The tension between the Tartar Tamerlano and the vanquished Sultan Bajazet is the point of the work, and Handel draws extraordinary portraits of these two powerful characters. Asterias, Bajazet's faithful daughter, is another great creation who goes from semi-comprehension of the situation to would be agent of revenge. Handel's use of traditional da capo aria, accompagnato, and secco recitative pushes the limits of form to great effect. Somehow, though, the "happy ending" after Bajazet's suicide doesn't strike me as terribly effective. There is also a thoroughly unsympathetic character in Irene - an unfeeling woman who sees the action only in the context of how it affects her.
I'm familiar with this recording and the rival period efforts of Gardiner, Malgloire, and Pinnock. I think the MDG under consideration makes the best case for the work. Petrou's conducting creates a very dramatic presentation and the singers are mostly excellent. Falsettist Nicholas Spanos has an occasional odd moment when what I take to be his natural baritone range almost pops out. It does add dramatic emphasis. Christoyannis baritone has a strong upward extension and he does very well indeed with the role, often taken by a tenor. Also outstanding is Mary Ellen Nesi as the Greek general Andronico. The rest of the cast also sings very well. The period instrument orchestra plays well and the recording is clean and well balanced. The recording also restores Handel's 1724 text. I'm not convinced that is a deal maker or breaker in Handel's operas (or oratorios). Second thoughts are sometimes superior to the first. Repeated listening will perhaps tell.
Text aside, what does make this the first choice is the quality of the performance. Gardiner's Erato recording is well executed but the singing has always left me cold. Pinnock's Avie effort (I have both the CDs and the DVD) is well sung and played, but the conducting rarely catches fire. It is better served on CD - skip the DVD's plain Jane staging. Malgloire is ruled out by the irritating scratchings of the period orchestra. So, until Alan Curtis choses to give us Tamerlano (his handling of recitative is extraordinary) this is the best available.
Free Music Review: A Great Tragic Opera in a First-Rate Performance
Hit: 5 Stars
In 1724-25, Handel produced a trio of operatic masterpieces: GIULIO CESARE IN EGITTO, TAMERLANO and RODELINDA, one of the highest peaks in his long theater career. TAMERLANO differs from the other two in that the obligatory "happy ending" is darkened by the suicide of a major character (the Turkish Emperor Bajazet); indeed, the whole piece, which deals with the psychological war between Bajazet and the Tartar Emperor Tamerlane, has a strikingly claustrophobic atmosphere, exemplified by the fact that, unusually for a Handel opera, every scene takes place indoors. Two other features are the frequent use of string-accompanied recitative at moments of high emotional intensity, all superb, and the fact that a major role (Bajazet) was composed for a tenor. Bajazet's death scene, passing flexibly from "dry" to accompanied recitative to arioso, is one of the most emotionally wrenching stretches in all of Handel's output. But the whole score sustains the highest level of inspiration, even more so than its companion operas. It's a beautiful and moving work.
The recording history of TAMERLANO is paradoxical: every one of the 4 previous recordings (beginning with John Moriarty's landmark 1970 version, and proceeding to "period" versions by Malgoire, Gardiner and Pinnck) has its merits and is worth hearing, but all of them fiddle with the musical text, generally by restoring material (some of it admittedly beautiful) that Handel cut before the 1724 premiere, sometimes by reverting to a discarded scheme for the end of Act II/start of Act III, and always making cuts in the lengthy "dry" recitatives (often following Handel's later abridgements). This new recording at last gives us Handel's 1724 text plain and simple, and it proves (no surprise) that Handel knew exactly what he was doing, particularly when he ruthlessly expunged the extraneous numbers towards the end of the opera. The piece feels structurally balanced and dramatically convincing to a far greater degree than ever before in my experience.
Fortunately, this is a terrific performance, a studio recording following a series of stage performances: the best of both worlds. There are no weak links in the cast, and the key role of Bajazet receives a particulary vivid reading from baritone Tassis Christoyannis - yes, baritone, a valid solution to the low-lying tessitura of the role. (In any case, Christoyannis's top register has a definite tenorish tinge, so there is no confusing his voice with that of the fine Leone, Petros Magoulas.) Mezzo Mary-Ellen Nesi is another standout as Andronicus, the Greek prince in love with Bajazet's daughter Asteria. One many prefer this or that singer in one of the roles on another recording, but the level of achievement here is high, and the sense of teamwork very satisfying.
For this, conductor George Petrou deserves great credit, as he does for his leadership of the fine Orchestra of Patras. It's an exciting performance, not the only way to do the piece but an extremely gripping and powerful one. Yes, there is the occasional overly fast tempo, but I found only one - Asteria's last aria in Act II - unfathomably so. David Vickers's notes are informative and clear about the textual issues, and there is a full Italian/English text. This is now top choice for TAMERLANO.