Name: Semele
Start: 2019-04-08T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2019-05-08T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Philharmonie de Paris

Organization

Conductor

John Eliot Gardiner

Stage director

Thomas Guthrie

Lighting designer

Rick Fisher

Costume designer

Patricia Hofstede

Singer

Louise Alder

Soloists

Hugo Hymas

Lucile Richardot

Carlo Vistoli

Gianluca Buratto

Orchestra

English Baroque Soloists

Others

Monteverdi Choir

Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

Semele

Rome

Italy

Sala Santa Cecilia

Milan

Teatro alla Scala

London

United Kingdom

Alexandra Palace Theatre

Barcelona

Spain

Palau de la Música Catalana

Paris

France

Philharmonie de Paris

Semele Händel

Public

Approved

In Spring 2019, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, led by John Eliot Gardiner, presented a tour of Handel’s dramatic oratorio, Semele. In a concert-staging directed by Thomas Guthrie, a glamorous team of young soloists joined the Monteverdi ensembles to bring the story of Semele to life.

This performance was filmed in London's Alexandra Palace Theatre on 2 May 2019.

Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner: conductor
Semele: Louise Alder

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The three Monteverdi ensembles – the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique – are a leading force on the international music scene. World-class musicians and singers from many nationalities come together to share in the distinctive vision of our Artistic Director, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, in ground-breaking projects that span eight centuries of musical masterpieces.

Handel: Semele - O sleep, why dost thou leave me (Louise Alder)

In Spring 2019, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, led by John Eliot Gardiner, presented a tour of Handel’s Semele. This project saw the ensembles showcase the work in a handful of prestigious venues across Europe: the Philharmonie in Paris, Barcelona’s Palau de la Música, the recently-restored Alexandra Palace Theatre in London, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and Rome’s Sala Santa Cecilia.

Semele had not been performed by John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi ensembles since they recorded it in the 1980s (the recording described by BBC Music Magazine as the ‘best-conducted Semele on disc’): and the 2019 performances gave audiences the chance to hear a fuller version of the work, notably with some passages by Handel very rarely heard in modern performances. Close examination of Handel’s autograph (held in the British Library) and some fragmentary sketches (held in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge) reveals the complex series of revisions made by Handel.


In a concert-staging directed by Thomas Guthrie, a glamorous team of young soloists joined the Monteverdi ensembles to bring the story of Semele to life. English soprano Louise Alder took on the title role, with the young tenor Hugo Hymas portraying the amorous Jupiter. French mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot presented the dual roles of Juno, Jupiter’s jealous, machinating wife, and Ino, Semele’s sister. The international cast was completed by soloists familiar to our audiences; countertenor Carlo Vistoli and bass Gianluca Buratto.

English

Semele by Händel, Mon 08 Apr 2019, From (2019/2019), Directed by Thomas Guthrie,, Conductor John Eliot Gardiner, Philharmonie de Paris, Paris, France

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Programme, About & Synopsis

Videos

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Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues