Handel: Tamerlano.(Sound Recording Review)

[] Norberg-Schulz, Bacelli, Bonitatibus; Pushee, Randle, Abete; English Concert, Pinnock. Arthaus Musik DVD 100 703, 323 mins. (Naxos, dist.)

This performance from the Halle Handel Festival of 2001 took place at the Goethe Theater in Bad Lauchstadt nearby. Built in 1802, it's a small hall, starkly decorated, and nicely suited to this intimate, tasteful production. The set, consisting of just a few screens and some basic props, is a perfect backdrop to the sumptuous costumes--modern variants of an eighteenth-century conception of the East, vibrant in color and pattern, and rich in texture. Jonathan Miller elicits performances from his cast that illustrate the action with extraordinary clarity and illuminate the central tragedy of the work, the plight of the captive Bajazet.

Thomas Randle as Bajazet is simply superb. He understands every word, sentence and sentiment of the work. When he is singing, the subtitles seem almost unnecessary; when he is not, it is hard not to watch him. Through him, Bajazet's pride, rage, frustration, love, disappointment and, ultimately, vengeance and satisfaction, combine to make a portrait of extraordinary power. The famous suicide scene is riveting. This performance alone would recommend this DVD.

However, Randle is surrounded by a generally good cast. Anna Bonitatibus as Irene is excellent. Her first aria, "Dal crude che m'ha tradita," is one of the most dazzling in the opera, and her performance is impeccable. Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz effectively communicates Asteria's confusion and doubt, but vocally she is better in the rapid divisions of "Non e piu tempo" than in the long lines of the slower arias, where her wide vibrato is troublesome. Countertenor Graham Pushee, as the Greek prince Andronico, is especially good in "Benche mi sprezzi," one of this opera's loveliest arias, although he sometimes seems to pay more attention to producing an attractive ...