- Venue Royal Opera House, London
- Performance dates Booking to 18 July 2025
- Running time 3 hours (including interval)
- Age guidelines 16
Book tickets to Semele at the Royal Opera in London
Experience Handel’s opera of desire and destruction in a darkly satirical new staging.
In the decadent world of the wealthy and powerful, hedonism rules supreme. Enter Semele, whose love for Jupiter introduces her to luxury – and total destruction.
Uncanny, strange and darkly satirical, this new production from Oliver Mears considers powerlessness, privilege and degradation. First performed in 1744, Semele marks the latest instalment in The Royal Opera’s series of Handel’s Covent Garden works. Pretty Yende (who sang at the Coronation of King Charles III) performs the title role of Semele, with Ben Bliss, who makes his debut with The Royal Opera, as her seductive but sinister lover. Brindley Sherratt, Carlo Vistoli and Alice Coote also star, conducted by Baroque specialist Christian Curnyn.
Visions of Paradise
The most famous aria in Handel’s musical drama is ‘Where’er you walk’, sung by Jupiter to reassure Semele. It is equally popular across the classical music community. ‘Where’er you walk / Cool gales shall fan the glade / Trees where you sit / Shall crowd into a shade,’ sings Jupiter, likening his palace gardens to paradise. Set to lyrics by Alexander Pope from the poet’s Pastorals, the aria is recognisable for its calm and serene manner, making it a popular wedding – and funeral – song.
Sensual Music
The opera is surprising in its sensuality, especially given that it was first performed during the season of Lent: a time when, in Handel’s day, austere religious subjects were typically preferred. Instead, Handel takes a mortal heroine from the world of ancient myth who revels in her own sexuality, with arias including: ‘Endless pleasure, endless love / Semele enjoys above’, ‘With bliss expiring, panting, fainting’, and ‘Myself I shall adore’. Sadly, Semele’s enjoyment is cut short, when she is tricked by Juno into demanding that Jupiter appear to her in his true form, with disastrous consequences.
Semele runs from 30 June 2025 until 18 July 2025 at the Royal Opera House in London.
Background
Jupiter lives to seduce and destroy. Semele is his latest conquest. Installed as Jupiter’s lover in his luxurious home, Semele, a former servant in his household, can’t believe her good fortune. But Jupiter’s wife, Juno, concocts a plan for revenge that will bring ruin to her husband’s young lover.
A Mythological Tale
Semele is a mortal woman who in the original myth, has an affair with the god Jupiter. Jupiter’s wife, Juno is furious, and in revenge, she tricks Semele into demanding that Jupiter reveal himself to her in his true form. The result? She is overwhelmed by his power, and consumed by fire. From her ashes, Bacchus is born, and later becomes the god of revelry, fertlity and agriculture. Semele’s story is a cautionary tale, with contemporary themes, such as power imbalances and sexual exploitation.
Stars and Creatives
Who is in the cast of Semele?
The cast features Pretty Yende, Ben Bliss, Brindley Sherratt, Carlo Vistoli and Alice Coote
Who are the creative team of Semele?
Music by George Frideric Handel, Libretto by William Congreve
Directed by Oliver Mears with design by Annemarie Woods, lighting design by Fabiana Piccioli and movement direction by Sarah Fahie
Important Notes
Language
Sung in English with English surtitles. Captions and translations in English will be displayed on screens above the stage and around the auditorium.
Venue Information
Royal Opera House , Bow Street, London, WC2E 9DD
Nearest Tube or Train: Covent Garden (Piccadilly line), Leicester Square (Piccadilly line, Northern line)
Nearest Buses: 1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 26, 68, 76, 77a, 91, 168, 171, 176, 188, 501(southbound only), 505, 521, X68 all go to the Aldwych.
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