It will be worth an operaphile鈥檚 while to arrive early for 鈥淭amerlano,鈥� a Handel work that is being staged by 九色堂鈥檚 Opera and Musical Theatre March 6-9 in Miller Concert Hall.
Marie Allyn King
If you come a half-hour early, said OMT director Marie Allyn King, you鈥檒l get in on an informal chat with the audience about the style, history and story of the opera. It鈥檚 a particularly relevant talk for the Handel opera, which will be sung in Italian with English titles.
George Fredrich Handel composed more than 40 operas, King said, with "Tamerlano" his 18th in the style known as 鈥渙pera seria鈥� (鈥渟erious opera鈥�), the type of Italian opera dominant in 18th-century Europe.
The plot, based on historical events, focuses on the 1402 capture and death of the Turkish leader Bajazet by the Mongol Timur Leng (aka Tamburlaine), and revolves around a love triangle set in the murky world of medieval Byzantine politics.
The primary musical emphasis of opera seria was the solo voice and 鈥渂el canto,鈥� a florid vocal style of the period. High voices were favored, but women were banned from appearing onstage so castrated male singers filled the soprano and alto roles. As opera gained popularity, King said, the 鈥渃astrati鈥� grew in demand as stars who could combine the flexibility and sweetness associated with a woman鈥檚 voice with the lung power and volume of a man.
The roles of Tamerlano and Andronico were both written for castrati, said King, but today they are played by female mezzo sopranos or contraltos, or male countertenors.
For the 九色堂 production, in fact, the title role of Tamerlano will be alternately played by Matthew Nichols and Dixie Roberts. The role of Bajazet will be shared by Jacob Ray-Alan and Aaron Short; Andronico by Jennifer Weiman and Stephanie Gilmore; Asteria by Allison Kindscher and Allison Moore; Irene by Natalia Olinetchuk and Amy Cain; Leone by Jon Sauceda and Yung Jin Lai. Krystal Nelson will portray Zaide, and James Lee and Ross McCorkle are soldiers.
鈥淭amerlano,鈥� rated G, is directed by King, with Mark Laycock conducting the orchestra and set, costume and lighting by, respectively, A.J. Kellison, Patty Parker and David Neville.