Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Ouverture
2. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Accompagnato: "Behold! auspicious flashes rise!"
3. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Chorus: "Lucky omens bless our rites"
4. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Recitative and Arioso: "Daughter, obey, hear and obey!"
5. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Accompagnato: "Ah me! What refuge now is left me?"/Air: "O Jove! in pity teach me w
6. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Air: "The morning lark to mine accords his note"
7. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Recitative: "See, she blushing turns her eyes"
8. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Air: "Hymen, haste, thy torch prepare"
9. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Recitative: "Alas! she yields, and has undone me"
10. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Quartetto: "Why dost thou thus untimely grieve"
11. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Chorus: "Avert these omens, all ye pow'rs!"
12. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Accompagnato: "Again auspicious flashes rise"
13. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Recitative: "Thy aid, pronubial Juno, Athamas implores!"
14. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 1, Chorus: "Cease, cease your vows, 'tis impious to proceed"
15. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 2, Recitative: "O Athamas, what torture hast thou borne!"
16. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 2, Air: "Turn, hopeless lover, turn thy eyes"
17. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 2, Recitative: "She weeps!"
18. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 2, Air: "Your tuneful voice my tale would tell"
19. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 2, Recitative: "Too well I see, thou wilt not understand me"
20. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 2, Duetto: "You've undone me"/"With my life I would atone"
21. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 3, Recitative: "Ah, wretched prince, domm'd to disastrous love!"/Accompagnato: "Wing'd
22. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 4, Chorus: "Hail Cadmus, hail!"
23. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 1. Scene 4, Air and Chorus: "Endless pleasure, endless love"

Disc 2:

1. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Sinfonia
2. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 1, Recitative: "Iris, impatient of thy stay"
3. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 1, Air: "There from mortal cares retiring"
4. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 1, Recitative: "No more - I'll hear no more!"/Accompagnato: "Awake Saturnia from thy l
5. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 1, Air: "Hence, Iris, hence away"
6. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 2, Air: "O sleep, why dost thou leave me?"
7. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 3, Recitative: "Let me not another moment bear the pangs of absence"
8. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 3, Air: "Lay your doubts and fears aside"
9. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 3, Recitative: "You are mortal and require time to rest"
10. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 3, Air: "With fond desiring"
11. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 3, Chorus: "How engaging, how endearing"
12. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 3, Recitative: "Ah me!"/"Why sighs my Semele?"
13. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 3, Air: "I must with speed amuse her"
14. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 3, Chorus: "Now Love that everlasting boy invites"
15. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 3, Recitative: "By my command"
16. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 4, Recitative: "Dear sister, how was your passage hither?"
17. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 4, Air: "But hark! the heav'nly sphere turns round"
18. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 4, Duetto: "Prepare then, ye immortal choir"
19. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 2. Scene 4, Chorus: "Bless the glad earth with heav'nly lays"

Disc 3:

1. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 1, Larghetto e piano per tutto
2. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 1, Accompagnato: "Somnus, awake, raise thy reclining head!"
3. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 1, Air: "Leave me, loathsome light"
4. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 1, Recitative: "Dull God, canst thou attend the water's fall"
5. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 1, Air: "More sweet is that name"
6. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 1, Recitative: "My will obey, she shall be thine"
7. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 1, Duetto: "Obey my will"/"All I must grant"
8. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 2, Air: "My racking thoughts by no kind slumbers freed"
9. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 3, Recitative: "Thus shap'd like Ino"
10. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 3, Air: "Behold in this mirror"
11. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 3, Recitative: "O ecstasy of happiness"
12. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 3, Air: "Myself I shall adore"
13. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 3, Recitative: "Be wise, as you are beautiful"
14. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 3, Accompagnato: "Conjure him by his oath"
15. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 3, Air: "Thus let my thanks be paid"
16. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 4, Air: "Come to my arms, my lovely fair"
17. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 4, Recitative: "O Semele! Why art thou thus insensible?"/Air: "I ever am granting, you
18. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 4, Recitative: "Speak, speak your desire"
19. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 4, Accompagnato: "By that tremendous flood, I swear"
20. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 4, Recitative: "You'll grant what I require?"/Accompagnato: "Then cast off this human
21. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 4, Air: "Ah, take heed what you press"
22. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 4, Air: "No, no! I'll take no less"
23. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 5, Accompagnato: "Ah! whither is she gone!"
24. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 6, Air: "Above measure is the pleasure, which my revenge supplies"
25. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 8, Recitative: "Of my ill-boding dream"
26. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 8, Chorus: "Oh, terror and astonishment!"
27. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 8, Recitative: "How I was hence remov'd"
28. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 8, Air: "Despair no more shall wound me"
29. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene 8, Recitative: "See from above the bellying clouds descend"
30. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene the last, Sinfonia
31. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene the last, Accompagnato: "Apollo comes, to relieve your care"
32. Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Act 3. Scene the last, Chorus: "Happy, happy shall we be"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #119587 in Music
• Brand: Nelson
• Released on: 1993-08-10
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: .52 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
This magnificent performance is without a doubt among the top two or three Handel opera recordings in the catalog. John Nelson outdoes even the period instrument competition, conducting with a vitality and freshness that sweeps all before it. Kathleen Battle is a great Semele (if listening to this woman sing "Myself I Will Adore" isn't a classic example of typecasting, then what is?). But the real palm must go to Marilyn Horne as the jealous Juno, who simply stops the show with her two arias (she sings Ino as well). A very great recording. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews

A Stellar Cast Breathes Life into the Baroque
Nelson's recording of Semele on the Deutsche Grammophon label is an excellent example of today's premiere voices singing a Baroque masterwork. Although Semele is one of Handel's lesser-known works, this performance could well rival any recording of Giulio Cesare or Judas Maccabaeus, and despite minor imperfections, it stands as a fine Handelian interpretation.

It features an all-star cast including Kathleen Battle in the title role, Alan Aler as Jupiter, Samuel Ramey doubling as Cadmus and Somnus, Sylvia McNair as Iris and Marilyn Horne also doubling as Juno and Ino. It also includes the countertenor Michael Chance as Athamus, who makes a fine contribution to the ensemble in the role.

Battle is stunning in the role of Semele. Here at the height of her powers, her singing is beautiful and delightfully self-absorbed (appropriate for the role). Her coloratura is emotive and precise. The arias "Endless pleasure" and "With fond desiring" sparkle, and her legato is utterly smooth in "O sleep, why dost thou leave me?" even though the song's dreary tempo and overly-elongated first phrase turn it into somewhat of an epic.

Battle's interpretation of Semele is favorable even when compared with artists like Ruth Ann Swenson who recorded arias from Semele in 1998 with EMI. By comparison, Swenson's songs (although more straight-forward and perhaps more accurate) lack the fluidity and vitality of Battle's versions. Battle's intensity is best exhibited in the extraordinary aria "No, no, I'll take no less!" where she spins through four minutes of ghastly coloratura with reckless abandon. Although apparently taxing to her delicate voice, the furious melismas are managed remarkably well, and Battle finishes the piece with a spectacular high D-natural. (It is no wonder that Miss Swenson did not attempt this aria on her own album.)

Playing opposite Kathleen Battle is Alan Aler who does a respectable job with the difficult role of Jupiter. His upper register is solid and vocal acting commendable. Although he manages to create some tender moments in the opera, Aler's tone becomes somewhat unpleasant during the more rigorous allegro passages.

Marilyn Horne's performance as Juno is well played and deliberate. Her voice, although aging, is a pleasant addition to the cast. Horne maintains great agility and rhythmic precision throughout the opera. Her "Iris hence away!" is firm and fiery giving flashes of her brilliant performances in the past. Her duet with Battle in the second act is heavenly, but other arias make one yearn to hear Marilyn Horne in her prime.

The performances of Samuel Ramey, Silvia McNair and Michael Chance are vital to the strength of the ensemble. Ramey's pristine singing is sometimes cold but always enjoyable. Silvia McNair's "From mortal cares retiring" is absolutely lovely. (It is probably the most comfortable she has sounded in recent memory.) Michael Chance, a veteran singer of Baroque literature, again shows his great agility and sensitive interpretation.

Overall, Nelson exhibits fine conducting keeping both the orchestra and the chorus crisp and in tasteful balance with one another. The chorus negotiates the sometimes-hectic melismas surprisingly well. Muddy passages occur only here and there and even those can probably be attributed more to sound engineering than to poor conducting. Furthermore, Nelson's work with all the soloists in the area embellishments is to be applauded. Baroque embellishments and cadenzas can often sound forced or contrived, but this is not the case here. Most of the ornamentation sounds quite natural and fluid.

I would recommend Nelson's Semele to anyone who loves Baroque music or anyone who loves classical music for that matter. It is not intended for those who are searching for absolute baroque authenticity or heavier works like those of Puccini or Verdi. I would, however, encourage everyone to take a look at this recording if not for the music itself, then for the wonderful performers contained therein.

Happy, Happy Shall We Be
The sensuous "Semele" was censured in its day as a "bawdy opera"--possibly because it was written in English, and the English audience could actually understand what was happening on stage. If your only exposure to Handel up until now has been the yearly 'Messiah' concert, this 1993 Deutsche Grammophon recording is a great way to get started on his operas. John Nelson conducts the English Chamber Orchestra using modern instruments, and the stunning celebrity cast (Kathleen Battle, Marilyn Home, Samuel Ramey, John Aler, Michael Chance and Sylvia McNair) is to die for.

Semele, the beautiful, ambitious mistress of Jupiter, has got to be Kathleen Battle's perfect role. She sings it superbly with only an occasional patented Battle-gasp. Her 'endless pleasure, endless love' with chorus sparkles with the artless joy of a young woman who has just won the biggest prize in the Lotto of Love. Her "Myself I shall adore" is Battle at her sprightliest (also, possibly her most ironic).

American tenor John Aler sings a lyrical, well-enunciated Jupiter. His aria, "Where'er you walk" is one of the highlights of this three-CD recording. (If you'd like to hear a grumblier, baritone version of "Where'er you walk," try the Deutsche Grammophon recording of "Handel Arias" with Bryn Terfel.)

Mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne tears up the vocal scenery in her dual role as Ino, Semele's sister, and the much plummier role of the vengeful goddess, Juno. Her aria, "Behold in this mirror" is an exercise in seductive vocal drama as she lures Semele ("vain wretched fool") down the path to self-destruction. After Semele takes the bait and demands to see Jupiter in his true form, Juno sings the triumphant, "Above measure is the pleasure, which my revenge supplies."

Acclaimed bass Samuel Ramey fills the dual role of Cadmus, King of Thebes and Somnus, god of sleep. It's as Somnus that he sings one of my favorite Handel arias: "Leave me, loathsome light." (I always think of it as the 'migraine aria'). If you love Sam like many of us do, you'll buy this recording of "Semele" just to hear the three minutes and seven seconds on disk three of his dark, richly resonant "Leave me, loathsome light."

Sylvia McNair, known around the world for her Paminas, Susannahs, and Tytanias sings a radiant, playful Iris in this recording. She tweaks Juno, rouses Somnus, and generally has the most fun in the opera.

Today there are some very fine English countertenors specializing in Handelian repetoire, including Michael Chance who is woefully exquisite as Semele's discarded fiancé, Athamas in this production.

The chorus is not neglected and gets to sing some good Handelian thumpers like "Oh, terror and astonishment" (my favorite) and "Happy, happy shall we be" at opera's end. Of course, Athamas doesn't get to marry Semele, but discovers he can be happy with her sister, Ino.

You, dear friends shall be happy with this recording.

The Best Recording Of SEMELE ever!!
If you want the definitive recording of Handel's SEMELE, look no further!! This recording is absolutely beautiful!! Featuring an all star ensemble, led by Katleen Battle, you will hear some of the most beautiful arias from the Baroque Period. Battle's spun silver soprano is well suited for singing these technically demanding arias: "The Morning Lark To Mine Accords His Note," "Endless Pleasure, Endless Love," and "Myself I Shall Adore." Marilyn Horne and Samuel Ramey team up again on this recording ( I saw them many years ago at the MET in Handel's "Rinaldo") and are great! Silvia McNair gained a new fan with: But Hark! The Heav'nly Sphere Turns Round," & "Turn Hopless Lover, Turn Thy Eyes." Mark S. Doss Is someone that I will be watching with great interest in years to come! I was VERY impressed with John Aler as Jupiter. The aria "Where'er You Walk, Cool Gales Shall Fan The Glade," is sensuous to the point that I wonder if Handel was influenced at least on a subconsious level, by Song Of Songs! This is, without a doubt, a CD that you will listen to with sheer joy for years to come!