Handel: Semele

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In the title role, soprano Rosemary Joshua applies light and graceful tone and conveys Semele's wilful, pleasure-seeking nature. As her immortal lover Jupiter, tenor Richard Croft is equally... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2008, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 29th Oct 2007
Catalogue No: CHAN0745(3)
Label: Chandos
Series: Chaconne
Length: 2 hours 48 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

January 2008

Editor's Choice

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Excerpt, Handel: Semele

Work length7:43

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company

No. 1, Ouverture

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Allegro - Adagio

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Gavotte

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act I Scene I

Work length27:47

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Brindley Sherratt, Early Opera Company Choir, Rosemary Joshua, Stephen Wallace, Hilary Summers

No. 2, Behold! auspicious flashes rise! (Cadmus)

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No. 3, Lucky omens bless our rites (Chorus)

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No. 4, Daughter, obey (Cadmus)

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No. 5, Ah me! What refuge now is left me? (Semele)

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No. 6, The morning lark to mine accords his note ( Semele)

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No. 7, See, she blushing turns her eyes (Athamus)

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No. 8, Hymen, haste, thy torch prepare (Athamus)

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No. 9, Alas! she yields (Ino)

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No. 10, Why does thou thus untimely grieve (Cadmus)

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No. 11, Avert those omens, all ye pow'rs! (Chorus)

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No. 12, Again auspicious flashes rise (Cadmus)

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No. 13, Thy aid, pronubial Juno, Athamus implores (Athamus)

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No. 14, Cease, cease your vows, 'tis impious to proceed (Chorus)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act I Scene II

Work length15:44

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Stephen Wallace, Hilary Summers

No. 15, O Athamus, what torture hast thou borne! (Athamus)

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No. 16, Turn, hopeless lover, turn thy eyes (Ino)

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No. 17, She weeps! The gentle maid, in tender pity (Athamus)

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No. 18, Your tuneful voice my tale would tell (Athamus)

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No. 19, Too well I see (Ino)

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No. 20, You've undone me (Ino)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act I Scene III

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Brindley Sherratt

No. 21, Ah, wretched Prince, doom'd to disastrous love! (Cadmus)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act I Scene IV

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Early Opera Company Choir, Rosemary Joshua

No. 22, Hail, Cadmus, hail! Jove salutes the Theban King (Chorus)

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No. 23, Endless pleasure, endless love (Semele)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act II

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company

No. 24, Sinfonia. Presto

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act II Scene I

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Hilary Summers, Gail Pearson

No. 25, Iris, impatient of thy stay (June)

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No. 26, There, from mortal cares retiring (Iris)

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No. 27, No more - I'll hear no more (Juno)

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No. 28, Hence, Iris, hence away (Juno)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act II Scene II

Work length2:54

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Rosemary Joshua

No. 30, O sleep, why dost thou leave me? (Semele)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act II Scene III

Work length23:28

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Rosemary Joshua, Richard Croft, Early Opera Company Choir

No. 31, Let me not another moment (Semele)

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No. 32, Lay your doubts and fears aside (Jupiter)

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No. 33, You are mortal, and require (Jupiter)

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No. 34, With fond desiring (Semele)

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No. 35, How engaging, how endearing (Chorus)

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No. 36, Ah me! (Semele)

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No. 37, I must with speed amuse her (Jupiter)

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No. 38, Now Love that everlasting boy invites (Chorus)

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No. 39, By my command' (Jupiter)

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No. 40, Where'er you walk, cool gales shall fan the glade (Jupiter)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act II Scene IV

Work length7:44

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Rosemary Joshua, Hilary Summers, Early Opera Company Choir

No. 41, Dear sister, how was your passage hither? (Semele)

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No. 42, But hark! the heav'nly sphere turns round (Ino)

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No. 43, Prepare then, ye immortal choir (Ino and Semele)

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No. 44, Bless the glad earth with heav'nly lays (Chorus)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act III

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company

No. 45, Sinfonia. Larghetto e piano per tutto

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act III Scene I

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Hilary Summers, Brindley Sherratt, Gail Pearson

No. 46, Somnus, awake (Juno)

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No. 47, Leave me, loathsome light (Somnus)

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No. 48, Dull God, canst thou attend the water's fall (Iris)

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No. 49, More sweet is that name (Somnus)

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No. 50, My will obey (Juno)

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No. 51, Obey my will, thy rod resign (Juno)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act III Scene II

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Rosemary Joshua

No. 52, My racking thoughts by no kind slumbers freed (Semele)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act III Scene III

Work length13:09

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Hilary Summers, Rosemary Joshua

No. 53, Thus shap'd like Ino (Juno)

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No. 54, Myself I shall adore (Semele)

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No. 55, Be wise, as you are beautiful (Juno)

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No. 56, Thus let my tanks be paid (Semele)

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No. 57, Rich odours fill the fragrant air (Juno)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act III Scene IV

Work length11:57

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Richard Croft, Rosemary Joshua

No. 58, Come to my arms, my lovely fair (Jupiter)

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No. 59, O Semele (Jupiter)

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No. 60, I ever am granting (Semele)

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No. 61, Speak, speak your desire (Jupiter)

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No. 62, You'll grant what I require (Semele)

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No. 63, Then cast off this human shape which you wear (Semele)

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No. 64, Ah, take heed what you press (Jupiter)

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No. 65, No, no! I'll take no less (Semele)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act III Scene V

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Richard Croft

No. 66, Ah! whither is she gone! unhappy fair! ( Jupiter)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act III Scene VI

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Hilary Summers

No. 67, Above measure (Juno)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act III Scene VII

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Rosemary Joshua

No. 68, Ah me! too late I now repent (Semele)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act III Scene VIII

Work length10:10

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Hilary Summers, Early Opera Company Choir, Stephen Wallace, Brindley Sherratt

No. 69, Of my ill-boding dream (Ino)

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No. 70, O terror and astonishment! (Chorus)

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No. 71, How I was hence remov'd (Ino)

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No. 72, Despair no more shall wound me (Athamus)

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No. 73, See from above the bellying clouds descend (Cadmus)

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Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act III Scene IX

Work length5:07

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Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company, Richard Croft, Rosemary Joshua, Hilary Summers, Brindley Sherratt, Stephen Wallace, Gail Pearson

No. 74, Sinfonia

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No. 75, Apollo comes to relieve your care (Apollo)

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No. 76, Happy, happy shall we be (All)

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Reviews

January 2008

In the title role, soprano Rosemary Joshua applies light and graceful tone and conveys Semele's wilful, pleasure-seeking nature. As her immortal lover Jupiter, tenor Richard Croft is equally lucid and nimble. This is the first Semele… recorded complete with period instruments. But it's not enough to match John Nelson's vividly theatrical version on modern instruments.

2010

Of a handful of previous recordings of Semele, none was entirely satisfying. Which makes this new version – complete save for an aria for Cupid that Handel later pilfered for Hercules – all the more welcome. Christian Curnyn understands the unique tinta of this gorgeous score, and directs his spruce period band with a nice blend of nonchalant elegance and dramatic energy. Tempi are shrewdly judged, rhythms light and supple, and recitatives tumble inevitably into arias. The tragic dénouement in Act 3 has due weight and intensity, whether in the tenderly inflected accompanied recitatives for Jupiter and Semele, or the awed chorus of Thebans after the heroine's incineration.
As at the English National Opera, Rosemary Joshua, radiant of tone, dazzling in coloratura, makes Semele far more than an over-sexed airhead.
She is trills ethereally in 'The morning lark', distils a drowsy, erotic languor in 'O sleep, why dost thou leave me?', and ornaments her 'mirror' aria, 'Myself I shall adore', with dizzy glee. She is imploring and fiery by turns in her exchanges with Jupiter, and brings real pathos to the haunting siciliano 'Thus let my thanks be paid' and her sublime death scene. As Jupiter, Richard Croft fields a honeyed, sensuous tone (heard to advantage in a seductive 'Where're you walk') and formidable agility, though he could learn a thing or two about diction from Anthony Rolfe-Johnson (on Gardiner's Erato set).
Like Handel himself, Curnyn assigns the virago Juno and Semele's gentle sister Ino to the same singer. Hilary Summers, a true, deep contralto, characterises both roles well. Brindley Sherratt, with his oaky bass, offers vivid, witty cameos as Cadmus and Somnus, while Stephen Wallace sings Athamas's arias with smooth tone and a nimble florid technique, though a suspicion remains that the role lies a bit low for him.
With excellent recorded sound and balance, and an informative essay from David Vickers, this becomes a clear first choice for an everenticing work.

A most satisfying and enjoyable account of Handel’s sex-centred oratorio. Rosemary Joshua catches all of Semele’s vanity, her sensuality and her ambition while still managing to make her likeable. If the rest of the cast is a notch below her lead, the whole thing has a wonderful freshness
and vitality.

January 2008

…Rosemary Joshua, radiant of tone, dazzling in coloratura, makes Semele far more than an over-sexed airhead. …a clear first choice for an over-enticing work.

2010

Rosemary Joshua, with her crystal-bright soprano, sings brilliantly in her famous big aria 'Myself I shall adore', crisply pointed with neat triplets. Richard Croft as Jupiter sings with a pleasant light tenor...Christian Curnyn directs the whole opera stylishly and his cast is uniformly strong.

Offer,Handel: Semele

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