A tremendous achievement: Handel's Tamerlano from English Touring Opera in performance that really drew you into the drama

Handel: Tamerlano - Jorge Navarro Colorado, James Hall - English Touring Opera (Richard Hubert Smith)

Handel: Tamerlano; Jorge Navarro-Colorado, Ellie Laugharne, Rodrigo Sosa Dal Pozzo, James Hall, April Koyejo-Audiger, director James Conway, conductor Jonathan Peter Kenny; English Touring Opera at Hackney Empire
Reviewed 8 October 2022 (★★★★★)

A darkly serious, intense account of one of Handel's finest operas, showcasing some superbly dramatic and highly musical performances

In his programme note James Conway describes Handel's Tamerlano as 'one of the most perfect and austere works of art', so perhaps no surprise that Conway should choose this as his final new production as artistic director of English Touring Opera. The production opened on Saturday 8 October 2022 at the Hackney Empire, conducted by Jonathan Peter Kenny, with Jorge Navarro Colorado as Bajazet, Ellie Laugharne as Asteria, Rodrigo Sosa Dal Pozzo as Tamerlano, James Hall as Andronico and April Koyejo-Audiger as Irene. Designs were by Rebecca van Beeck, lighting by Tim van't Hof.

Rebecca van Beeck's set was a semi-abstract construction of grills and gantries, which set off the tiny cage in which Jorge Navarro Colorado's Bajazet was confined. Costumes were loosely ancient inspired modern, this wasn't taking place in a particular place, yet there was clear differentiation between the various groups. It wasn't a glitzy production; the big set pieces had no extraneous theatrical dazzle and there were no supers. Tamerlano's court was primitive and violent, drama was dark and concentrated, with emphasis on the characters' interaction and their emotional journeys. 

Handel: Tamerlano - April Koyejo-Audiger, Ellie Laugharne, Rodrigo Sosa Dal Pozzo, Jorge Navarro Colorado, James Hall  - English Touring Opera (Richard Hubert Smith)

Initially confined to a cage and apparently subject to the lash, Jorge Navarro Colorado's Bajazet was damaged from the outset. Always a stylish singer Navarro Colorado combined a superb sense of Handel's music, and some brilliant yet apposite ornamentations with a dramatic intensity that bordered on the disturbing. This Bajazet was never going to be easy, and his deep need to evade and get one better over his conqueror was uppermost. Conway and Navarro Colorado brought out Bajazet's sense of possession of his daughter, Asteria (Ellie Laugharne) rather than warming the character with tender care for her. There were intimate moments between the two, notably in Act Three, but overall, it was a disturbing relationship. Navarro Colorado crowned a stupendous performance with death scene that dramatically seemed modern yet stayed musically within the 18th century conventions. A terrific achievement.

James Hall made a noble and notable Andronico. This was the role sung at the premiere by Senesino, and the emphasis is on Andronico's moral dilemma. This can make him seem weak in modern performance, but somehow Hall and Conway brought out the moral side to the character, the way he was torn between his patron (Tamerlano) and his lover (Asteria). Andronico makes bad decisions, but Hall's performance, particularly in the long aria that closed Act One, drew us in. This was superb serious, dramatic singing. As Conway says in the programme note, the opera does not sparkle or flair, but Hall drew out its sombre yet musically satisfying qualities.

Rodrigo Sosa Dal Pozzo succeeded in capturing the changeable element in Tamerlano, you never quite knew what he was going to do, and he changed mood on a pin. This Tamerlano was violent and dominating, but not overly so, and he could charm too, but always with an underlying sense that you had to be careful. Always. Sosa Dal Pozzo managed to make the arias move in the same sphere, some of Tamerlano's writing is surprisingly upbeat, yet Sosa Dal Pozzo never once moved the character out of range, making a fine contrast with Hall's Andronico.

Handel: Tamerlano - Ellie Laugharne, Jorge Navarro Colorado - English Touring Opera (Richard Hubert Smith)

We last saw Ellie Laugharne as Elsie Maynard in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard at the Grange Festival. This was very, very different and a remarkable change. Laugharne's voice is perhaps on the lighter side for the role, but she brought a sense of steel to the character. Never pushing the voice beyond lovely, but physically and vocally giving us the feeling of the rigidity of her feelings. Laugharne's body rarely relaxed, she was bolt upright, very much her father's daughter. We never doubted her feelings for Hall's Andronico, but her commitment to her father overrode everything. The remarkable scene that ended Act Two (with its echoes of a similar scene with Ottone in the previous night's Agrippina) really gripped and the act ended with her touching and moving aria.

April Koyejo-Audiger's Irene was quiet and watchful. She came onto the stage early in a couple of scenes and throughout brought a wonderful feeling of concentration and stillness to the role. She was definitely other, from a different culture (Irene is a Byzantine Greek from Trebizond) and her approach to Tamerlano was different, more pragmatic. There were moments, however, when I wanted her to grasp the role more and make Irene's music more vividly dramatic. 

In the pit, Jonathan Peter Kenny drew finely dramatic playing from the Old Street Band, matching the colour and timbre of the stage production admirably.

Handel: Tamerlano - April Koyejo-Audiger, Jorge Navarro Colorado, Rodrigo Sosa Dal Pozzo, Ellie Laugharne, James Hall - English Touring Opera (Richard Hubert Smith)

This was a serious and sombre evening, but one where the strong character of each of the performers drew you in. Essentially this is a black box drama, five people confined to a single location and the dramatist simply seeing what will happen. There is no glitz, and the strength of this performance was that we didn't need it, the singers drew us in. Each strongly differentiated; yet forming a fine ensemble with no one singer dominating. This was very satisfying, grown-up Handel performance.

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