Semele (Handel) - Recordings

Recordings

• Anthony Lewis, Jennifer Vivyan et al, 1955.
• Johannes Somary, conducting the English Chamber Orchestra, with Sheila Armstrong as Semele, Helen Watts as Juno, and Robert Tear as Jupiter. Smaller roles are sung by Felicity Palmer, Mark Deller, and Justino Díaz. Vanguard Classics, 1973.
• John Eliot Gardiner, conducting the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir, with Norma Burrowes as Semele, Della Jones as Juno, and Anthony Rolfe Johnson as Jupiter. Erato Disques, 1983.
• John Nelson, conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's, live in 1985 at Carnegie Hall, New York, with Kathleen Battle, Marilyn Horne, Rockwell Blake, Jeffrey Gall. Legendary Recordings. Poor sound, but some reviewers have found it more exciting than the studio recording.
• John Nelson, conducting the English Chamber Orchestra, with the soprano Kathleen Battle as Semele, the mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne as both Ino and the goddess Juno, and the tenor John Aler as the god Jupiter. The smaller roles included the soprano Sylvia McNair as Iris, the countertenor Michael Chance as Athamas, the bass Samuel Ramey as the god of sleep Somnus, and bass-baritone Mark S. Doss as the High Priest. Deutsche Grammophon 435 7822 6, recorded in London in 1990 and released in 1993. (This is the reference recording, according to ClassicsToday.)
• Antony Walker, conducting the Sirius Ensemble, with the Cantillation chorus and the soprano Anna Ryberg as Semele, mezzo-sprano Sally-Anne Russell as both Juno and Ino, and tenor Angus Wood as Jupiter. Smaller roles are sung by sopranos Belinda Montgomery and Shelli Gilhome, countertenor Tobias Cole, and bass Stephen Bennett. Taped live in Sydney, Australia in December, 2002. ABC Classics 980047-0.
• Decca DVD 0743323 is available of the Operhaus Zurich 2007 production starring Cecilia Bartoli as Semele, Charles Workman as Jupiter, Birgit Remmert as Juno. 154 mins. DTS 5.0 and LPCM stereo.