Semele, was Handel's final oratorio composed in 1744 and performed as such without any production or sets using the massed choirs which were typical of the genre. Néanmoins, tout dans cette page évoque l’opéra, le livret tragi-comique, l’habile succession des scènes, la virtuosité des airs solistes… Yet everything about the work conjures up opera - from the tragi-comic libretto and cleverly executed succession of scenes to the virtuoso arias for soloists. This is an opera in all but name, but bears the finest hallmarks of a lifetime of composition. With Brenda Rae, Semele, Elizabeth DeShong Ino / Juno, Benjamin Hulett, Jupiter, Soloman Howard, Cadmus / Somnus, Christopher Lowry, Athamas, Ailish Tynan, Iris, with The English Consort and The Clarion Choir of New York, under the direction of Harry Bicket.
Paris, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, 7.30 pm
Also on 5th April at the Barbican, London, 7th Ampril at the Sage in Gateshead, then across the Atlantic for 10th April at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth, 12th April at the Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, 14th April in Carnegie Hall, New York, and 16th April at the Annenburg Center, Philadelphia.