Programs · Episode

HANDEL: Tamerlano

Program: At the Opera
Aired: Saturday, January 20, 2018 @ 6:00 pm
Hosted by Lisa Simeone

In Handel's time, heroism in opera had long been associated with high voices — and with women restricted to feminine roles, heroes were almost always portrayed by castrati.  With Tamerlano, Handel changed that.  He assigned the noble character of Bajazet to a tenor, creating what may well be opera's first, great heroic tenor roles. The two recordings heard on At the Opera feature tenors Nigel Robson and Tom Randle, with countertenor Derek Lee Ragin and mezzo-soprano Monica Bacelli in the title role.

FEATURED RECORDINGS:

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
English Baroque Soloists
(Erato 88220)

CAST:  Derek Ragin (Tamerlano); Nigel Robson (Bajazet); Nancy Argenta (Asteria); Michael Chance (Andronico); Jane Findlay (Irene); René Schirrer (Leon)

Trevor Pinnock, conductor
The English Concert
(Avie 0001)

CAST:  Monica Bacelli (Tamerlano); Tom Randle (Bajazet); Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz (Asteria); Graham Pushee (Andronico); Anna Bonitatibus (Irene); Antonio Abete (Leone) 

MORE ABOUT THE OPERA:

Let's think for a minute about some of opera's many great heroes — or, at least its male heroes.  The list can seem almost endless:  Siegfried in Wagner's Ring cycle; Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca, and Calaf in the same composer's Turandot; Des Grieux in Massenet's Manon; Pollione in Bellini's Norma; Manrico and Radames, in Verdi's Il trovatore and Aida.  Those roles and characters are a pretty disparate bunch, but they do have one obvious thing in common:  They're all written for tenors.

In fact, judging from the operas we hear most often in today's theaters, one might think that virtually all of opera's notable heroes are tenors. Yet, it hasn't always been that way.

Back in the 18^th century, during the heyday of George Frideric Handel, opera was dominated by the Italian style known as opera seria.  It was especially popular in London, where Handel made himself famous, and extremely wealthy, in the city's opera houses, writing operas that are full of heroes.  But back then, high voices were considered more heroic than low ones. And female singers were generally restricted to portraying female characters. So, heroic roles were written for sopranos, mezzos and contraltos, and sung by castrati.

So, when was it that tenor voices became the standard for operatic heroes?  Well, there's been plenty of debate about that — with opinions ranging from the 15^th century all the way to the 19^th.  But there is one drama that has a solid claim to opera's first, truly great heroic tenor role.  And we have Handel to thank for it.

Handel composed Tamerlano for a 1724 premiere at London's King's Theatre. Like many of his dramas, it's based on history.  The title character is loosely based on the historical figure Timur, a 14^th century Tatar conqueror.  He's a charismatic but vindictive ruler, a sort of anti-hero and, according opera seria custom, he's sung by a countertenor.  But the opera's real hero is the Greek leader Bajazet, who risks — and even encourages — his own death rather than give in to his enemies.  And, bucking then-current conventions, Handel wrote the role of Bajazet for a tenor. 

Thus, Tamerlano is not only one of Handel's finest, and most moving operas. It's also home to a role that may well have sparked a tradition of heroic tenors that continued for centuries.

 On At the Opera, we'll hear two outstanding tenors as Bajazet. Nigel Robson stars in a 1985 recording led by John Eliot Gardiner with the English Baroque Soloists, and Tom Randle is featured in a 2001 recording made live, in London, with Trevor Pinnock leading the English Concert.

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