Harry Bicket and The English Concert’s performances of Handel’s operas and oratorios have been called a “beloved ritual for many’ (The New York Times). Bicket and company turn their attention to the 1724 opera Tamerlano, a richly dramatic work about love, war, and revenge with virtuoso arias for each of the principals. There are snarling vengeance arias, moving laments and Bajazet’s strikingly modern death scene where halting vocal phrases and stabbing strings depict the final beating of his heart.