Mid Wales Opera

First performed in 1744 at Covent Garden, Handel’s Semele originally appeared as an oratorio rather than an opera and instantly caused a stir. The production used Congreve’s English libretto based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, to bring to life the tragic tale of Semele’s ill-fated love for Jupiter, King of the Gods.

Featuring thunder and lightning, giant eagles and a dragon-guarded castle, Semele was both a spectacular and controversial departure from Handel’s previous works and ran for only four nights. Revived just once in Handel’s lifetime, Semele was brought back into the repertoire in the twentieth century.

Handel’s Semele is undoubtedly one of the jewels of baroque opera. It contains the stunning tenoraria “Where’er you walk” and Semele’s joyous “Endless pleasure, endless love”. For his final production as Artistic Director of MWO, conductor Nicholas Cleobury teams up with internationally renowned director Martin Constantine to stage this musically and dramatically breathtaking work.