Toronto…TAMERLANO is considered one of Handel’s greatest works for the Royal Academy of Music in London. Written in 1724, only months after GIULIO CESARE and before RODELINDA, the work brilliantly displayed Handel’s innovative genius as never before. In a break with tradition Handel chose not only to make one of the two protagonists (Bajazet) a tenor but he also ignored opera seria’s usual nod to royal clemency at curtain time – the ‘happy ending’. "The work is even more interesting dramatically since it concerns not power or Olympian destiny but a complex interaction between two proud rulers in the ancient Middle-East", says OIC’s General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin. "Their psychological struggle is gripping and all too human."

TAMERLANO will be presented by Opera in Concert at the St. Lawrence Centre’s Jane Mallett Theatre on Sunday, 03 February 2008 at 2:30 pm with award-winning conductor Kevin Mallon leading a stellar cast and the Aradia Ensemble on period instruments. Mezzo-soprano Lynne McMurtry returns to the OIC stage, singing the title role, Tamburlaine, the Tatar warrior who triumphs over the Ottoman Empire. Rare in his operas, Handel makes one of his protagonists, Bajazet, a tenor, and OIC welcomes back Marcel van Neer in this psychologically complex role. The pivotal role of Asteria, daughter of Bajazet and beloved of Tamburlaine, will be sung by debuting soprano Shannon Mercer.　 Ms. Mercer was featured as Despina in the COC’s COSI FAN TUTTE and also appeared with Les Violons du Roy in the opening of the newly renovated Palais Montcalm in Quebec.　 The cast is completed by debuting counter tenor Scott Belluz and mezzo soprano Jenny Cohen.

The opera will be sung in Italian with surtitles sponsored by Sun Life Financial.

For an insightful introduction to this rarely heard work, join lecturer and opera enthusiast Iain Scott in the Jane Mallett Theatre 45 minutes before curtain time.

At this performance OIC marks the official International Release of its newest collaboration with Aradia , a complete recording of Vivaldi’s GRISELDA, issued on the Naxos label.　 This recording follows OIC’s performance of the work, heard in the 2005-06 season.

Opera in Concert is generously supported by Sun Life Financial, the Jackman Foundation, members of the Patrons Circle, the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council.

Tickets ($58 & $38) for TAMERLANO are available at the Jane Mallett Theatre Box Office at 27 Front Street East or by calling 416-366-7723, 1-800-708-6754 or online at www.stlc.com.　 The theatre is wheelchair accessible and close to public transit and municipal parking.　 Discounts are available for groups of 20 or more.