Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish

Semele is a Musical Drama, originally presented "after the manner of an oratorio", in three parts by George Frederick Handel. Based on an existing opera libretto by William Congreve, the work is an opera in all but name but was first presented in concert form at Covent Garden theatre on 10 February 1744. The story comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses and concerns Semele, mother of Bacchus. Handel also referred to the work as 'The Story of Semele'. The work contains the famous aria "Where'er you walk".

The work fuses elements of opera, oratorio and classical drama. Semele was presented during Lent, one of Handel's regular oratorio seasons. However it was not what London audiences were expecting of an oratorio during the solemn season of Lent. Semele has a secular text with a story involving an adulterous sexual relationship. It is distinguished from Handel's operas by the large number of polyphonic choruses. Semele was performed four times during its original run, and twice again later the same year, but those were the only performances in Handel's lifetime. Today Semele is frequently fully staged and receives regular performances at many of the world's opera houses, as well as performances in concert form.

In the early 1740s, Georg Friedrich Handel's concerts in London consisted mostly of oratorios at the Royal Theater, Covent Garden. Several of them, such as Israel in Egypt (composed in 1738), Messiah (1741) and Samson (1743), bear some resemblance to Greek tragedy, which leads Handel to venture into the world of classical drama. Handel takes the libretto that William Congreve wrote for the opera Sémélé (en) (1707) by John Eccles, and composes the music in a month, from June 3 to July 4, 1743. The work naturally takes the form of a opera, but Handel saw the possibility of giving it during the Lent concert series of the Royal Theater in February 1744, knowing that this series would ensure the creation of the work and a cachet. He therefore adapts the latter to present it "like an oratorio". In 1760, in his biography of Handel, John Mainwaring will indicate “Semele is an English opera, but called oratorio, and performed as such."

Director: Floris Visser (Director), Christopher Molds (Music Conductor)
Cast: Semele: Jennifer France, Jupiter: Ed Lyon, Athamas: Terry Wey, Juno: Katharine Tier, Ino: Dilara Baştar, Iris: Hannah Bradbury, Cadmus: Ks. Edward Gauntt, Somnus: Yang Xu, Cupid: Ilkin Alpay, Deutsche Händel-Solisten, Handel-Festspielchor