Handel Opera Cycle - Tamerlano - Tamerlano, Acts 1 and 2

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).