Afternoon on 3 - Shakesepeare and McCabe - Handel: Tamerlano, Acts 1 and 2

Handel Operas 2009 As part of BBC Radio 3's complete cycle of Handel operas, Penny Gore presents the tragic tale of Bajazet and Asteria, a proud Ottoman Sultan and his beautiful daughter, captured by the vicious Tartar Emperor Tamerlano. A work without the 'lieto fine' or happy ending, so beloved of Handel's London opera audiences, it is considered to be Handel's deepest, darkest and most 'Shakespearean' opera. Handel: Tamerlano (Acts 1 and 2) Tamerlano ...... Monica Bacelli (contralto) Bajazet ...... Tom Randle (tenor) Asteria ...... Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz (soprano) Andronico, her lover ...... Graham Pushee (countertenor) Irene, Princess betrothed to Tamerlano ...... Anna Bonitatibus (mezzo-soprano) Leone, Andronico's sidekick ...... Antonio Abete (bass) The English Concert Trevor Pinnock (director) 4.10pm Shakespeare and McCabe Continuing a series to celebrate the birthdays of Shakespeare and composer John McCabe. Mendelssohn: Overture (A Midsummer Night's Dream) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Martyn Brabbins (conductor) Ralph Vaughan Williams: Shakespeare Songs BBC Singers James Weeks (conductor) Tchaikovsky: Hamlet, Op 67 - fantasy overture BBC Philharmonic Vassily Sinaisky (conductor).