SEMELE : GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

Ana Maria Labin (soprano)
Matthew Newlin (tenor)
Dara Savinova (mezzo-soprano)
Chiara Skerath (soprano)
Lawrence Zazzo (countertenor)
Andreas Wolf (bass)

Choeur de Chambre de Namur / Millenium Orchestra
Continuo Cappella Mediterranea

Musical direction: Leonardo García Alarcón

AFTER THE SUMPTUOUS SAMSON DE HANDEL AND THE POIGNANT SAUL UNDER THE INSPIRED DIRECTION OF LEONARDO GARCÍA ALARCÓN, HERE IS ANOTHER LIVING ORATORIO WITH OUR WONDERFUL NAMUROIS ENSEMBLES IN LARGE WORKFORCE.

It is well known, Jupiter is a womanizer ... and it will cost Semele to try to resist his charms!

Adapted from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Handel's Sémélé is on the border between opera and oratorio.

With Sémélé, Handel succumbs to the temptation to write an English opera. Composed in 1743 and premiered in 1744 at the Covent Garden Theater, the work remains one of Georg Friedrich Handel's finest lyrical pages. The libretto, written by Newburgh Hamilton on texts by William Congreve, recounts the loves of Semele, mother of Dionysus, and Jupiter, the latter capturing her in the form of an eagle. This is to forget a little quickly, on the part of Almighty God, the anger of his wife Juno, who will use all her magic to make the romance fail. An opera or secular oratorio, the work contains a number of sensual and charming amorous scenes and arias (including the magnificent "Endless pleasure, endless love").

The sensitivity of Leonardo García Alarcón brought to this monumental score promises us a vibrant and regenerating evening.