20:00, Wed 26th November 2014 at Jesus College Chapel
Michaelmas Week 7

Semele was composed in only a month, but contains some of Handel’s most inventive and delightful music, notably the famous "Where’er you walk". It presents the story of the daughter of the king of Thebes, who is betrothed to the prince of Boeotia, but is secretly in love with Jupiter, king of the gods. Her sister Ino has fallen in love with the prince, but Jupiter’s wife Juno is determined to take revenge on the mortals in her way.

Handel tried to disguise this ‘glittering stone dug from the ruins of Greek mythology’ as an oratorio in order that it be included in the Theatre Royal’s 1744 Lenten concert series. This semi-staged performance is sung to the original English libretto and is staged with various kinds of masked drama in mind.