When last autumn Plácido Domingo sang his 125th opera role as Orest in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride he performed sterlingly, but a nitpicker might think him implausible as the young Greek to whom Iphigénie is mysteriously drawn (in fact, her brother). By contrast, Bajazet in Handel’s Tamerlano – the tenor’s 126th role – profits from the bearing of a senior. An age gap (at least in Handel’s opera) serves to set apart the Ottoman emperor from his hot-tempered, low-born captor, the Tartar warrior Tamerlano, as surely as does Bajazet’s haughty demeanor.

From his first contemptuous glance at his guards when emerging from a subterranean cell, Domingo’s performance has a lot more going for it than just age. We used to marvel at his vocal longevity, now we accept it as a wonder of nature. His every scene in the Washington National Opera’s new production rivets attention on the plight of Bajazet, one of Handel’s most tragic figures. The honeyed tone still sounds fresh, even if a more supple voice might have brought more nuance to Bajazet’s farewell to his daughter Asteria in his shattering suicide scene.