Fire and Fury
Semele
Georg Friedrich Händel
Handel’s music can move you to the core, all the more so when staged as movingly and convincingly as in Barrie Kosky’s production of Semele. He brings the Greek gods of Handel’s oratorio astonishingly close, showing them entangled in the very rules they themselves created, just as humans are.
Jupiter is captivated by the extraordinarily beautiful princess Semele, just as deeply as she is by the father of the gods. Nothing does she desire more than to behold him once in his true form. Only when he reveals himself in all his divinity can she feel herself his equal. The fire of her ambition, further fanned by Jupiter’s jealous wife Juno, leads her toward destruction. The mortal Semele proves defenceless against the searing blaze of Jupiter’s presence. She must perish, and Jupiter strides onward.
Jupiter is captivated by the extraordinarily beautiful princess Semele, just as deeply as she is by the father of the gods. Nothing does she desire more than to behold him once in his true form. Only when he reveals himself in all his divinity can she feel herself his equal. The fire of her ambition, further fanned by Jupiter’s jealous wife Juno, leads her toward destruction. The mortal Semele proves defenceless against the searing blaze of Jupiter’s presence. She must perish, and Jupiter strides onward.
Semele, the daughter of King Cadmus, is due to marry Prince Athamas, though secretly she loves Jupiter, father of the gods. Her sister Ino is unhappily in love with Athamas and can barely conceal her despair – much to her father’s displeasure. Athamas is shocked when he realizes that he’s the reason for Ino’s sorrows. A bewildered Cadmus announces that Jupiter, in the guise of an eagle, has carried off Semele.
Semele enjoys the pleasures of love. Jupiter’s wife Juno hears about her husband’s new lover from her messenger Iris. She is consumed with jealousy. Semele loves Jupiter beyond all measure but is painfully aware of an insurmountable barrier between herself and the god. Jupiter is troubled by this and does all he can to distract Semele.
– Interval –
Aided by Somnus, the god of sleep, Juno appears to Semele as her sister Ino, whispering that she can become immortal if she sees Jupiter just once in his true, divine form. At their next rendezvous, Semele demands maximum fulfilment. Jupiter is unable to dissuade the woman he loves so much and she is burnt to death in the supreme deity’s fiery rays. Jupiter proclaims through Apollo that Dionysus, god of ecstasy, shall rise from her ashes. Ino and Athamas become the new royal couple and their wedding is joyously celebrated.
Musical drama in three acts [1744]
Libretto by William Congreve
Libretto by William Congreve
In the repertoire since May 13, 2018
A pessimistic, deeply serious, but also very touching, thoughtful interpretation, closer to the baroque cult of death, the lament of the decrepitude of all existence, than to the—likewise baroque—joie de vivre and exuberance.BR KLASSIK