Tamerlano (HWV 18)

Opera in three Acts by George Frideric Handel
Staged performance sung in Italian

Handel’s darkly dramatic opera unfolds from the confrontation of two tyrants, the Mongol conqueror Tamerlano and the Ottoman sultan Bajazet. Its plot is driven by the themes of power and powerlessness, despotism, unrequited love and political scheming. The young Swedish director Johanna Garpe has demonstrated in her recent productions in Drottningholm how Baroque opera can be interpreted from a modern angle without trampling on the original composition. For this new Göttingen production a choice cast of top-league young soloists has been assembled, led by the English countertenor Christopher Ainslie in the title role. The scenery and costumes are in the experienced hands of Kukulies and Landertinger, a team recently acclaimed for their collaboration at the Vienna Volkstheater.