Margaret Mikulska writes of my thoughts on Handel's "Tamerlano":

>>A production of mine even set in it 19th c. revolutionary Cuba, without
>>violence either to Handel's drama or his music;
>
>That's your opinion; I think it make no sense and it does violate
>Handel's intention.  And his music, too.

My opinion had some thought behind it; I didn't choose the setting at
random. A cursory reading of what was going on in the Caribbean during
the 19th Century (Toussaint L'Ouverture in Haita especially) might make
Margaret think again. She'd find some nice examples of order v. divine
right + chaos in that time and place, which is what made it so appropriate.
Essentially, 19th c. Central America was still mulling over 18th century
questions, and I wanted to capture some of the raw, iconoclastic energy
which makes Tamerlano himself so dangerous in Handel, plus a sense of a
time and place where an old, civilised order was crumbling.

How do we know what Handel's artistic or philosophical "intention" was?
I don't claim to, and tend to think any such claims are speculative wild
goose chases. All I did say - or meant to say - was that the opera
raises questions of order versus divine right, in part at least, which
is a very different claim, and more about the librettist Haym's input
than the composer's. I suppose Handel's likely prime "intention" was to
write a good piece and earn some cash, in both of which he succeeded
admirably!

>Did Handel use yashmaks, whatever this is?

The yashmak is the face-covering veil which many women wear, whether
they wish to or not, in many middle eastern and near-Asian countries.
Handel didn't use them, as far as I know.

Of Wagner:

>>One thing I'm quite sure of: whatever he might
>>have thought of the stagings, he'd have adored the controversy! For him,
>>it was 'Opera as Drama' or nothing at all.
>
>And how can you be sure?  Can you read his mind?  Now?  You are
>projecting your ideas on somebody else.

Apologies for whimsical rhetoric! Plainly, I should have said "One thing
is highly likely, given the weight of his published writings and his
biography: he'd almost certainly have adored the controversy". I don't
need to read his mind, Margaret, his books will do.

Christopher Webber,  Blackheath, London,  UK.
http://www.nashwan.demon.co.uk/zarzuela.htm
"ZARZUELA!"