An examination of the psychology of energy, Tamerlano, first carried out in 1724, is considered one of Handel’s biggest operas, and arguably his darkest. We all know its title character higher in English as Tamburlaine the Nice, the central Asian warlord and emperor, whose life and profession have been famously dramatised by Christopher Marlowe. Right here, as within the play, Tamerlano has overcome the Ottoman empire, however instead of Marlowe’s violent militarist, Handel offers us an unnerving portrait of a sadistic psychopath, taking part in deadly thoughts video games together with his undesirable fiancee, Irene, and in addition with the deposed Ottoman emperor, Bajazet; the latter’s daughter, Asteria; and Andronico, Asteria’s lover and considered one of Tamerlano’s unwilling political allies.
Slowly and insidiously accumulating stress, it's a troublesome work to get proper within the theatre, although Daniel Slater’s new Grange competition staging admirably captures its depth and sombre ambiguities. Slater hauls the work ahead to the current, setting it in a labyrinthine bunker-cum-palace, strikingly designed by Robert Innes Hopkins, the place Raffaele Pe’s Tamerlano – charismatic, if lethal, in leather-based, brocade and bling – toys with the lives and liberties of his prisoners and victims, his manipulations breeding deceit and equivocation in a world during which solely Paul Nilon’s morally principled Bajazet values his integrity over his life. Feigning compliance, Sophie Bevan’s Asteria secretly plots homicide, whereas Andronico (Patrick Terry) alternately fawns sycophantically and bribes Tamerlano’s henchmen for the sake of his personal and others’ survival. By the top, although, it's obvious that Angharad Lyddon’s proud, calculating Irene will show greater than a match for the person she is decided to regulate in her flip.
For essentially the most half, it's beautifully acted and sung, although Bevan took time to get into her stride on opening evening after a tentative begin. Within the later scenes, her lyricism contrasted properly with Lyddon’s declamatory fireplace. Nilon, wonderful as all the time, is all noble, uncompromising dignity all through. Nevertheless, the night finally belongs to its two countertenors. Pe, an impressive artist, is large within the title position, fusing recitative, aria and a few exacting coloratura into an totally compelling portrait of a political monster straying past self-control. His vocal and dramatic brilliance properly offset Terry’s extra reflective heat and tonal magnificence; the love-hate relationship between the 2 males is subtly and deftly captured, too. Robert Howarth is the fashionable conductor, and there may be impeccable taking part in from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
In rep on the Grange competition, Hampshire, till 3 July.
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