![Handel: Tamerlano [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61sacpzeN1L.jpg)
Product Description Teatro Real's majestic production of Handel's vivid tragedy, Tamerlano, stars a Lear-like Plácido Domingo as the Turkish Sultan Bajazet, caught between pride, love and loyalty. Displaying the uniquely heroic quality of his voice, Domingo heads a superb cast, including Sara Mingardo, Monica Bacelli and Ingela Bohlin, all magnificently responsive to Paul McCreesh's authentic and luminous interpretation of the score. The stunning theatrical staging by Graham Vick provides a splendid setting for the characters and for designer Richard Hudson's extravagant Baroque-Islamic costumes, emphasising the brilliance of one of Handel's finest dramatic achievements.Press Reviews"Here Domingo, with his superb diction, his great declamatory power and eloquent phrasing…brings a towering presence and bags of vocal charisma to Bajazet...This is surely one of Vick's finest achievements in the opera house." (The Sunday Times) "The grandly tragic figure of the enslaved Turkish sultan Bajazet in Handel's 1724 opera is a recent departure for Plácido Domingo, and one that could be supposed to lie outside his comfort zone. So it says much for his artistry and intelligence that he makes such a significant success of it in this filming of Graham Vick's 2008 Madrid production." (BBC Music Magazine)"If Handel's two other great operas, Giulio Cesare and Rodelinda, are well known then this third of the trio of ‘greats’ should certainly join them. This production will do much to underline that. " (Musicweb International)CastPlácido Domingo (Bajazet)Monica Bacelli (Tamerlano)Ingela Bohlin (Asteria)Sara Mingardo (Andronico)Jennifer Holloway (Irene)Chorus and Orchestra of Teatro Real; Paul McCreeshProductionCompany: Teatro RealStage Director: Graham VickDisc InformationCatalogue Number: OABD7022DDate of Performance: 2008Running Time: 241 minutesSound: 2.0 & 5.0 PCMAspect Ratio: 1080i High Definition / 16:9Subtitles: EN, FR, DE, ES, ITLabel: Opus Arte Review ACT IThe Ottoman Empire has collapsed. Emperor Bajazet (Placido Domingo) has been captured by the powerful autocrat Tamerlano (Monica Bacelli). Devastated, Bajazet contemplates committing a suicide. His daughter, Asteria (Ingela Bohlin), appears and changes his mind. Andronico (Sara Mingardo), a Greek dignitary and ally of Tamerlano, who has fallen in love with Asteria, arrives. Tamerlano grants him the Byzantian Empire but Andronico rejects his gift, realizing that if he accepts it, he would have to part ways with Asteria. Unaware of his feelings for Asteria, Tamerlano announces that Princess Irene (Jennifer Halloway), a beautiful woman he has been eying, would marry Andronico. In return for his generosity, he expects Andronico to help him win Asteria's heart. Bajazet appears and immediately dismisses Tamerlano's plan. Meanwhile, Princess Irene arrives. She exchanges clothes with her maid and sets out to meet Tamerlano. ACT II Tamerlano announces that Asteria has accepted his marriage proposal and that their wedding will take place soon. He also declares that Princess Irene will marry Andronico. Leone (Luigi De Donato) escorts the disguised Princess Irene to Tamerlano where she begs him to change his decision, but he rejects her. Meanwhile, Bajazet vows to prevent Tamerlano from marrying his daughter. Andronico also vows to never give up his beloved Asteria. Tamerlano and Asteria are married. Bajazet appears and announces that now only death can calm his anger. Disturbed by her father's words, Asteria runs back to him. Enraged, Tamerlano immediately declares that Bajazet and Asteria will be executed. ACT III Bajazet and Asteria have decided to poison themselves. Tamerlano appears and announces that he will spare Bajazet's life if Asteria comes back to him. Andronico arrives and shocks everyone by revealing his feelings for Asteria. Tamerlano goes berserk. Princes Irene reveals herself and pledges her love to Tamerlano. However, determined to revenge Asteria's betrayal, Tamerlano orders that Bajazet is punished in front of his daughter. Terrified, Andronico attempts to change Tamerlano's mind. Tamerlano also announces that Asteria will become his slave. Devastated, Asteria sips the poison she and her father have been planning to take in a cup of wine and hands it to Tamerlano. But Princess Irene, who has been observing from afar, warns Tamerlano about the poison and he orders Asteria to choose between her father and Andronico. Asteria prepares to drink the poison herself, but Andronico takes the cup away from her. Barely able to contain his anger, Tamerlano orders his slaves to have their way with Asteria in front of Bajazit. Disgusted and hurt, Bajazit drinks the poison and then tells Tamerlano that his spirit will haunt him forever. Then, he collapses and dies. Realizing what he has done, Tamerlano pardons Asteria. Composed by Georg Frideric Handel, on a libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Agostino Piovene's Il Tamerlano (1711) and Il Bajazet (1719), both set by Gasparini, based on the play by Jacques Pradon, Tamerlan, au La Mort de Bajazet, Tamerlano is an Italian opera seria in three acts. It was first performed at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, London, on October 31, 1724. This Blu-ray disc contains a production of Tamerlano courtesy of Orchestra of the Teatro Real, led by Maestro Paul McCreesh, and Stage Director Graham Vick, which was recorded live on March 29, 2008 at Teatro Real, Madrid. The first performance of the production was at Teatro della Pergola, Florence on May 17, 2001. Like most baroque operas, Tamerlano has appeared in a number of different versions. Handel repeatedly edited the score until he finally settled on a version that reflected his vision. This specific rendition of Tamerlano is more or less representative of Handel's first version of the opera. It is notably long and with a number of sequences that did not make it into later versions. The opera itself is quite unusual - it is incredibly intense and with a surprisingly rich score. Maestro McCreesh and Orchestra of the Teatro Real do not use period instruments, but their treatment of the musical text - particularly in regard to vibrato, dynamics, and sound transparency - is stylistically convincing. The cast is fantastic. This rendition of Tamerlano marked Placido Domingo's first ever involvement with Baroque opera. Nonetheless, he sings with relentless passion and vigor. Sara Mingardo, Jennifer Halloway, Ingela Bohlin and specifically Monica Bacelli, as Tamerlano, are every bit as impressive. VideoPresented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080i "live" transfer, Handel's Tamerlano arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Opus Arte. This is only the second 2BD release the distributors have released on the North American market. As expected, it is a terrific package - contrast is top-notch, clarity fantastic and detail very pleasing. The color-scheme is also quite strong. Light blues, greens, whites and blacks are all colors of importance that look rich and well-saturated. Furthermore, there are no lighting issues to report, though there are a few very awkward shots that I noticed (mostly due to the operator's desire to capture the stage and the orchestra at the same time). Edge-enhancement and macroblocking are not an issue of concern. Mild motion-judder, however, occasionally pops up. This being said, there is no artificial sharpening that I could detect. I did not see any serious image distortions to report either. To sum it all up, this is a strong and very convincing presentation of Handel's Tamerlano which I am convinced opera aficionados will enjoy tremendously. (Note: This is Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location). Audio There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Italian LPCM 5.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. I opted for the Italian LPCM 2.0 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the Italian LPCM 5.0 track for the purpose of this review. I tested this Blu-ray disc the day I received it. I picked one of Placido Domingo's arias and quickly experimented with the two LPCM tracks. I liked the Italian LPCM 2.0 track better (I will explain why) and decided to watch Tamerlano in its entirety with it. The key reason why I picked the Italian LPCM 2.0 track over the Italian LPCM 5.0 track was balance. As I noted in my analysis of the opera, Maestro McCreesh and Orchestra of the Teatro Real did not use period instruments. Therefore, they were forced to introduce all sorts of adjustments in order to achieve the type of period sound Tamerlano necessitates. As a result, I felt that the Italian LPCM 2.0 track reflected better what Maestro McCreesh and the orchestra musicians were looking for (particularly as far as string section is concerned). The singing was practically identical on both tracks. This being said, the Italian LPCM 5.0 track is also quite good. However, I do believe that the more sensitive amongst you will notice that the track tends to reveal quite a few acoustic issues. For example, there are a few echo effects that pop up here and there that are far more difficult to her on the Italian LPCM 2.0 track. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing dropouts, pops, cracks, or hissings. For the records, Opus Arte have provided optional English, French, German, Italian and Spanish subtitles. SupplementsThis Blu-ray disc arrives with a stylish 32-page booklet containing the informative essay "The Shadows of Hell" by Juan Jose Carreras, which focuses on the rich history of Handel's opera as well as its fascinating characters. The essay is available in English, French and German. On the actual Blu-ray disc, there is an illustrated synopsis for the opera, cast gallery, and an interview with Maestro McCreesh where he dissects Tamerlano and offers his thoughts on why it is considered one of the best operas from the Baroque repertoire. The interview arrives with optional French, German, Italian and Spanish subtitles. Final WordsOpus Arte continue to add terrific titles to their already very impressive catalog of opera releases. This time around, they have put together a strong package for Handel's beloved Tamerlano. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed looks and sounds great. This said, I must warn you that Tamerlano is a very long opera. So, plan your time accordingly! Highly Recommended! -- Blu-ray.com, Dr. Svet Atanasov, May 19, 2009
P**S
Great Performance, Weird Production, Horrible English Subtitles
One of Handel's best operas, gorgeously sung and played under the expert baton of McCreesh. If you don't mind a bit of ending-spoiler, I'd watch the interview with McCreesh first. Note that he speaks mainly about plot, acting, and music—giving brief, faint praise to the visual aspects. As he says, this is an unusually dark and grim story for Handel, yet the production is garishly lit, its stark modernism clashing with the elaborate costuming. Much of the stage business has a comic, even clownish effect wildly out of synch with the opera seria style of the work.All the singers are impressive and great to listen to, even Domingo heroically taking on his first Baroque role. Because two major roles originally created for castrati are taken by women this is a female-dominated cast. Not a problem in Baroque opera, where cross-dressing is common, though usually it's male countertentors performing the high parts.The interview with conductor McCreesh explains the jarring twist of the ending, wrenching the mood from high tragedy to typical Baroque sudden happy ending style. Handel wrote the happy ending first, but ended up revising the opera to give it the darker conclusion. The decision to perform both endings in sequence is jarring, but has the virtue giving us all of Handel's music--making for a very long performance.The singers are all skilled at performing ornamentation in their arias in authentic style. You really need to enjoy this sort of thing to enjoy this opera. Most of the action is in the musical notes being sung."Dancers" mostly stand around stock-still or make minimal movements.The English subtitles are truly awful, often collapsing into gibberish. They look like something created by Google Translate with a badly designed pseudo-Shakespeare filter created by someone for whom English was a second language. But I suspect they were just a rush job done by the Italian librettist for sale to opera-goers in Handel's day--a common practice. Note the frequent tortured word order enabling the writer to put rhyming words at the end of lines. This must be a singing text--surely one of the worst ever written. Just read the plot summary on this page and you'll have the sense of the plot.I wish I'd bought the Christophe Rousset Blu-ray version instead, titled "Alcina & Tamerlano", but I have to admit this version provides a very satisfying musical experience.
E**S
Great Tamerlano
Just wanted to get my two cents in here since there is only one review so far. This is a very good dvd of Tamerlano, and I think it is much more interesting than the Pinnock dvd. The production is typical Graham Vick, which is to say: stylish, thoughtful, a little unconventional but still very true to the work. He contributes some new ideas here and there, but in a respectful way. The costumes vaguely suggest 18th c. ideas of turquerie, but are schematic and exaggerated in some cases, with sober white costumes setting Bajazet and his daughter apart from the rest of the characters. Tamerlano himself (Monica Bacelli) is a sort of flamboyant, Liberace-type character with very colorful costumes and lots of makeup, who interpolates some turkish-looking dance moves into his arias. Very neat idea for this character, as his arias are very bouncy and dancelike tunes (shades of the McVicker Giulio Cesare? perhaps). Asteria also is very well sung, and brings interesting middle-eastern style hand gestures into her first aria. Domingo's Bajazet is good, altho he is not really a Handel singer, but this role suits him, and he is much more convincing as a father figure than some Bajazets are (young tenors don't seem grave enough...Randle is very young on the Pinnock dvd, and not really made to look old). Mingardo's Andronico is well sung, although I thought she wasn't as comfortable in the trouser role; not charismatic, but vocally has the ability for this very, very difficult Senesino role.As with Graham Vick's production of Mitridate re di Ponto from Covent Garden (also on DVD), there are groups of dancers who sometimes contribute to the ebb and flow of the emotions and music in the arias. In only case case did I feel this didn't work quite right (Leone's aria). It was a wonderful idea, and in fact, if you have seen that dvd of Mitridate, you can have a good idea of the overall feel of this production. My only complaint about the dvd is that the video director made some annoying choices. He regularly focuses on Paul McCreesh and the orchestra for longish periods of time, even though things are happening onstage. I don't want to see the orchestra that much, and especially with a production as stimulating as this one, I want to see every moment onstage. He also didn't do a good job of focusing on, or even showing, the dancers sometimes. It was almost like he didn't like the dancing and wanted to show it as little as possible. This was really annoying. Finally, when Domingo was singing, he seemed to just want to go closer up on Domingo and ignore everything else on stage entirely. Bad move. I hate it when a stupid video director makes weird choices and ruins a perfect performance (Pierre Audi's dvd of Zoroastre is another example of this). However, I should close by saying that the director doesn't do this kind of thing constantly, and overall he avoids close-up, going in only for waist length shots usually, which I like better. So it is good in that respect most of the time.Overall: highly recommended. Certainly better than Pinnock's, and worth getting even if you are new to Handel opera. I sold my dvd of the Pinnock one. This is great. I think there are lengthy clips from it on YouTube if you want to sample it before you buy this very expensive set.
E**B
Great tenor role makes the opera a must!
Georg Frideric Handel’s opera Tamerlano is blessed with wonderful arias, notably for the tenor soloist who sings the role of Bajazet and it’s regarded as one of the first dramatic and virtuoso tenor roles in opera history. This role is sung by Placido Domingo on my recording. It’s a dramatic work altogether and warmly recommended!
J**U
A very difficult masterpiece
It appears that this is a very complicated and difficult opera. I can imagine it's not so easy to find out all the actors who are perfect at the roles. The leading characters Bacelli and Mingardo are both veteran singers. They did great in the performance, but for me their voices sounded similar to each other. Bohlin is a Sedish soprano. I felt myself have difficulty to match her appearance to Asteria.
P**N
great opera crap subtitles.
I enjoyed this opera which has good singing, a great staging wonderful playing and Domingo. What a shame it is spoilt by crap English subtitles. At this price up with this we should not put have to.
T**N
tamerlano/domingo
\good singing needed better scenery
P**M
Five Stars
Enjoyed immensely: something quite different from Domingo for a change !
