Tamerlane by Händel, to 25 syys 2014, Alkaen (2014/2014), Musiikinjohto Maxim Emelyanychev, Theater an der Wien, Vienna, Austria

In Tamerlano - premiered in 1724 at the King's Theater in London - the unscrupulous Tartar prince and the indomitable Sultan Bajazet face each other as opponents. The (historical) power struggle and Tamerlan's victory over the Ottomans was a popular subject in literature and theater. In Georg Friedrich Handel's version with a libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, however, the conflict continues on a private level. Tamerlano asks the daughter of his prisoner Bajazet, Asteria, to be his wife. But the hero so successful on the battlefield has to admit his failure in this matter. It is not Tamerlano, but rather the complex character of Bajazet - torn between his pride as a captive ruler and as a father - that dominates the scene and makes this Handel opera so extraordinary. The death scene after his suicide is one of the most dramatic moments that Handel wrote. It seems that he anticipated the death scenes of Bellini's and Donizetti's operas by more than a hundred years.