Semele

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.