Semele (Handel)

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Semele (HWV 58) is a "musical drama", originally presented "after the manner of an oratorio", in three parts by George Frideric Handel. Based on an existing opera libretto by William Congreve, the work is an opera in all but name but was first presented in concert form at Covent Garden theatre on 10 February 1744. The story comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses and concerns Semele, mother of Bacchus. Handel also referred to the work as "The Story of Semele". The work contains the famous aria "Where'er you walk". The work fuses elements of opera, oratorio and classical drama, and is distinguished from Handel's operas by the large number of polyphonic choruses. Semele was presented during Lent, one of Handel's regular oratorio seasons, but was not the solemn work that London audiences were expecting during the Lenten season. Instead, it has a secular text revolving around an adulterous relationship: Jupiter, king of the gods, assumes human form and begins an affair with Semele, a young, vain, and ambitious mortal woman; Juno, Jupiter's wife, misleads Semele into a plot to attain immortality from Jupiter; when Semele sets the plot in motion by trying to gaze upon Jupiter in his godlike form, his lightning burns her to ash. Semele was performed four times during its original run, and twice again later the same year, but those were the only performances in Handel's lifetime. Today, Semele is frequently fully staged and receives regular performances at many of the world's opera houses, as well as performances in concert form.