In the 18th century, Hamburg Opera broke free from the influence of Italy, giving rise to a new musical culture in Germany. Counter-tenor Max Emanuel Cenčić offers us a glimpse of this vibrant operatic life from the stage of the stunning Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth, accompanied by Christoph Rousset's Les Talens Lyriques. Chapters: - Reinhard Keiser - Georg Friedrich Haendel - Alessandro Scarlatti - Arcangelo Corelli - Johann Mattheson - Georg Philipp Telemann - Nicola Porpora
In Tamerlano, Handel defied rules both written and tacit—offering a main role to a mature tenor at a time when the castrato voice dominated; and not shying away from shocking scenes that other composers approached hesitantly, like suicide. Pierre Audi’s elegant, minimalist staging allows an all-star cast of singers to highlight the work’s many dramatic elements, proving that Baroque opera can still move and thrill us as it did 300 years ago!
