Handel: Semele (complete musical drama)
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GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Semele (complete musical drama)
Louise Alder, Hugo Hymas, Lucile Richardot, Carlo Vistoli, etc / The English Baroque Soloists, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
[ SDG / 3 CD Box Set ]
Release Date: Friday 2 October 2020
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"Semele's musical score is a glorious blend of irresistible solo arias-some virtuosic showstoppers, others lyrical, sensual and evocative-, ensembles, duets, accompanied recitatives and (unlike his operas) imposing choruses. Still more than when I first performed it and recorded it almost forty years ago, I feel Semele's time has finally come." (Sir John Eliot Gardiner)
"A new recording is always welcome, especially when it comes from someone who knows his dramatical business as John Eliot Gardiner does...Alder is a happy choice, her voice rich, fluid and precise, and her agile and alert acting skills finding ideal projection in the wonderful clutch of arias Handel sets before her..Hymas has just the smooth vocal beauty needed for a sympathetic Jupiter." Gramophone Editor's Choice Sept 2020
"Gardiner's trump cards are his famous choir - thrilling in the great choral reaction to Semele's death, O Terror and Astonishment! - and Louise Alder's entrancing Semele, who makes every highlight...Hugo Hymas's young Jupiter is an appealing, stylish Handelian. Gardiner is in his element with this great piece" Sunday Times
"Alder is riveting in the title role as she mutates from soft seductress to vain brat to crushed victim, applying a range of styles to develop her character...Richardot's intensity equals Alder's, but with less subtlety...Countering her bluster is Hugo Hymas's warm tenderness as Jupiter, and an always-inventive finessing of Handel's dense score by the band and choir...Despite Gardiner's caprices, this Semele production is gorgeous, and among the best ever." BBC Music Magazine - Christmas 2020 Opera Choice
