| Handel, George Frideric (1685-1759) | Semele (Concert staging) |
| Sir John Eliot Gardiner | Dirección | |
| Thomas Guthrie | Dirección de escena | |
| Monteverdi Choir | ||
| English Baroque Soloists | ||
| Louise Alder | Soprano | Semele |
| Lucile Richardot | Mezzosoprano | Ino, Juno |
| Gianluca Buratto | Bajo | Somnus, Cadmus |
| Carlo Vistoli | Contratenor | Athamas |
| Hugo Hymas | Tenor | Jupiter |
| Angela Hicks | Soprano | Cupid |
| Emily Owen | Soprano | Iris |
| Peter Davoren | Tenor | Apollo |
Performed by the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, and led by John Eliot Gardiner, MCO's production of Semele will visit the Alexandra Palace Theatre in London, as part of a prestigious European tour.
Semele, often billed as an oratorio, is in reality an English-language opera, with a libretto by the Restoration playwright William Congreve, based on one of the more salacious passages of Ovid’s Metamorphoses; indeed the piece’s risqué storyline – “Handel’s sexiest opera”, according to Gardiner – is one of the reasons it was suppressed after only a few performances in Handel’s lifetime.
In a concert-staging directed by Thomas Guthrie, an international cast of young soloists will present a drama that combines themes of deception, sexual power-struggle, the delicate relationship between gods and humans, and tragedy – which is finally mitigated by the birth of none other than Bacchus, the god of wine.