Available again by popular demand! Vanguard Recordings' landmark recording of Handel's Semele, first released in 1973, revealed the work as one of the composer's most original operatic undertakings. For the recording, producer Seymour Solomon and conductor Johannes Somary assembled a cast of formidable singers, a mix of veterans and young talent on the verge of major opera and concert stage careers, and a superb chorus cherry-picked from London's finest vocal ensembles. The interpretation straddles the grand British oratorio tradition and the then-exploding "early music" movement, providing an ample argument that Handel was indeed writing for full-bodied voices and large-scale entertainment, and yielding a sumptuous treat for lovers of opera, Baroque music, and terrific singing.
Handel: Semele
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Though he favours oratoriolike tempi, [Johannes] Somary keeps in mind an operatic flavour and the Amor Artis Chorale (pseudonymn for wellknown professional recording choir) sings splendidly, often with great vigour… attractive ornamentation.... Overall the performance has much charm and spirit with superb soloists…. [T]he fine recording allows excellent detail yet is full and expansive
— Penguin Guide
A classic Handel recording from the Vanguard catalogue returns to print
Handel: Semele
English Chamber Orchestra / Sheila Armstrong / Justino Diaz / Robert Tear / Mark Deller / Harold Lester / Johannes Somary
Alto ALC-2003
Number of Units: 2 CDs
EAN: 894640001738
| CD 1 | |||
| 1 | Semele | Overture | 00:00 |
| 2 | Semele | Recitative: Priest "Behold, auspicious flashes rise……" | 00:00 |
| 3 | Semele | Chorus of Priests "lucky omens bless our rites" | 00:00 |
| 4 | Semele | Cadmus, Athamas. Recitative, arioso & duet: Cadmus: "Daughter obey" | 00:00 |
| 5 | Semele | Recitative & Aria: Semele "Ah me…" | 00:00 |
| 6 | Semele | Cadmus, Ino, Athamas, Semele. Recitative: Ino "Alas! She yields": Quartet: response | 00:00 |
| 7 | Semele | Chorus of Priests "Avert these omens" | 00:00 |
| 8 | Semele | Cadmus, Athamas, Semele, Chorus of Priests. Recitative: Cadmus: "Again, auspicious flashes…." | 00:00 |
| 9 | Semele | Cadmus, Chorus of Priests & Augurs. Recitative: Cadmus, Chorus "see, see" | 00:00 |
| 10 | Semele | Semele, Chorus. Aria: Semele, "endless pleasure" | 00:00 |
| 11 | Semele | Aria: Semele, "Endeless pleasure" | 00:00 |
| 12 | Semele | Sinfonia | 00:00 |
| 13 | Semele | Juno, Iris. Recitative & Aria: Juno, "Awake Saturnia" | 00:00 |
| 14 | Semele | Aria: Semele "Oh sleep, why dost thou leave me?" | 00:00 |
| 15 | Semele | Semele, Jupiter. Aria: Semele, "Let me not another moment" | 00:00 |
| 16 | Semele | Jupiter, Athamas, Chorus of Loves & Zephyrs. Recitative, Jupiter: "you are mortal" | 00:00 |
| 17 | Semele | Jupiter, Semele. Recitative: Semele "Ah, me" Aria, Jupiter: "why sigh" | 00:00 |
| 18 | Semele | Chorus of Loves & Zephyrs "Now love, that everlasting boy invites" | 00:00 |
| 19 | Semele | Jupiter, Semele. Recitative & Aria: Jupiter "By my command".."Where'er you walk" | 00:00 |
| 20 | Semele | Semele, Ino, Chorus of Nymphs & Swains: Recitatve & Aria: Semele: "Dear Sister, how was your journey hither?" | 00:00 |
| CD 2 | |||
| 1 | Semele | Duet: Semele & Ino "Prepare then, ye immortal choir" | 00:00 |
| 2 | Semele | Chorus of Nymphs & Swains: "Bless the glad earth" | 00:00 |
| 3 | Semele | Sinfonia | 00:00 |
| 4 | Semele | Recitative & Aria: Juno Iris, Somnus. Juno "Somnus awake" | 00:00 |
| 5 | Semele | Iris, Juno, Somnus. Recitative: Iris: "Dull God, canst though attend" Aria, Juno: | 00:00 |
| 6 | Semele | Juno, Somnus & Iris. Recitative: Juno: "My will obey" | 00:00 |
| 7 | Semele | Juno, Semele. Aria: Semele "Myself I shall adore" | 00:00 |
| 8 | Semele | Recitative & aria: Juno, Semele. Juno: "Be wise, as you are beautiful"…. | 00:00 |
| 9 | Semele | Recitative & aria: Juno, Semele. Juno: "Rich odours fill the fragrant air"…. | 00:00 |
| 10 | Semele | Jupiter, Semele. Recitative: Jupiter: "Oh Semele" | 00:00 |
| 11 | Semele | Jupiter, Semele. Recitative & Aria: Jupiter: "Speak, speak your desire" | 00:00 |
| 12 | Semele | Aria: Semele "No, no I'll take no less" | 00:00 |
| 13 | Semele | Aria; Jupiter "Ah, wither is she gone?" | 00:00 |
| 14 | Semele | Aria: Juno "Above measure is the pleasure" | 00:00 |
| 15 | Semele | Aria: Semele "Ah, me! Too late I now repent" | 00:00 |
| 16 | Semele | Cadmus, Athamus, Ino, Chorus of Priests. Recitative: Ino: "of my ill-boding dream" | 00:00 |
| 17 | Semele | Sinfonia | 00:00 |
| 18 | Semele | Recitative & Aria: Apollo: "Apollo comes" Chorus: "Happy, happy" | 00:00 |
English Chamber Orchestra / Sheila Armstrong / Justino Diaz / Robert Tear / Mark Deller / Harold Lester / Johannes Somary
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Alto - Oratorios and Cantatas