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Wholly Serious
Handel's 'Tamerlano' at Covent Garden,
reviewed by ROBERT HUGILL
The Saturday 13 March 2010 performance of Handel's Tamerlano at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, was originally intended to be the first of two performances at which Kurt Streit took over the role of Bajazet from Plácido Domingo, and Sally Matthews sang Bajazet's daughter Asteria in place of Christine Schäfer. In the event, Kurt Streit sang the whole run instead of Domingo, who was laid low by illness, and instead of Sally Matthews, the young British soprano Sarah Fox made her début as Asteria.
Undoubtedly the Royal Opera's performances of Tamerlano would not have happened unless Domingo had been interested in the role of Bajazet, one of the few significant tenor roles in Handel's Italian operas. But much though I admire Domingo, Handel is not what I want to hear him in at this stage of his career, having sung Samson, Otello, Siegmund, Lohengrin and Parsifal. I would hardly think his voice ideal for Handelian fioriture...
Copyright © 14 March 2010
Robert Hugill,
London UK
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