Customer Reviews
a good production let down by the casting - By: B. Drori Avraham, 26 Jan 2010 
Having seen the production twice at the ENOin London (with Rosemary Joshua & Carolyn Sampsonin the title role), I was looking forward to finally having it on DVD.
Frankly overall it was a bit of a let-down, as mentioned by other reviewers, the casting leaves one a bit underwhelmed. The singers' diction & pronounciation varies, which slightly imparts the fun on the production.
Cecilia Bartoli is,in my view, no natural handelian. She does a lot of huffing & puffing & even though the tone itself is attractive, the singing is too mannared & self-conscious to give real pleasure - she strikes a sympathetic figure on stage but her character comes off as too matronly. I wonder if she would not have been more suited to sing Juno, had she stayedin the mezzo repertoire rather than rebranding herself as a 'soprano'...
Likewise Birgit Remmert (towering over Bartoliin height) looks good on stage but her singing is missing a bitin style, leaving her character sounding anonymous. And as the staging gives her many hilarious moments, she is better seen than heard.
The secondary roles are mostly competently sung but there is noone to write home about.
That leaves Charles Workman, who stands outin the cast, being the only one soundingin style & presenting a credible Jupiter.
William Christie's conducting is very pointed & gives lots of pleasure, but this being an opera & not an instrumental work, he cannot disguise the shortcomings of some of the singers.
I fully agree that this would have been an outright winner if they had released the 'original' version with Rosemary Joshua - but then from the marketing & even the cover this is branded as a Bartoli project & as that not entirely successful. To be enjoyed to see a partly hilarious production, but if you want it well sung, one has to look elsewhere for most of the part!
A great singer blatantly miscast. - By: J. A. Dawson, 06 Dec 2009 While sympathising with another reviewer's preference for the Joshua version, the main issue I have this production is the (mis)casting of Cecilia Bartoliin the title role. Let there be no misunderstanding - I am not questioning Bartoli's ability - she is a truly great singer, comfortably claiming a placein the all-time top ten (exactly which position on that list is more open to debate), &in this production she sings to her usual exemplary standard. The problem is that Semele is an ambiguous character - at best simply foolish & vain, at worst an openly power-hungry despot-in-the-making. Bartoli cannot play this kind of role - she is so sweet & warm a personality that no matter how well she acts this humanity radiates through & renders her performance unbelievable. The other problem is her age - she is no longer young - & Semele is generally understood to be a young woman. Admittedly, this militates against Rosemary Joshua as well. Which brings us back to the question: Why this production, & not the ENO? A little of politics & a lot of money. Bartoli is the `heavyweight' (without wishing to be cruel,in a more literal sense this is another reason why Joshua is betterin the part) & Joshua is not. `Bartoli' sets the cash tills ringing, `Joshua' not so much. That is the harsh reality of it.
great music... but opera? - By: R. Hakemulder, 01 Sep 2009 Semele has a lot of wonderful music, & this performance has some great singing. Of course from the star of the show, Cecilia Bartoli, but Charles Workman as Jupiter & Liliana Nikiteanu as Ino, are excellent as well, with Ino's aria "Turn, hopeless lover", for me the most affecting performancein this recording. William Christie gets crisp & transparent playing out of La Scintilla, but I found the choir rather large & heavy, with an opaque & sluggish sound, a definite minus for an opera with lots of choruses. More importantly, however, at leastin this recording Semele does not convince as an operain spite of the great music. The staging is unimaginative if not boring, the mix of tragedy & comedy resultsin no tears & few laughs, & none of the characters really engage. Bartoli does not manage to make one really care about Semele's fate, & her attempt to frolic aboutin a large bed may be amusing, but I am not sure it was intended as such. Although her last aria is beautifully sung, the staging, or should I say, the absence of it, leaves the effect only half-realised. One wonders how the director's pretension to "find theatrically viable parallels for the situation that binds the gods, demigods & human beings to one another" could resultin something this bland. In sum, on the strength of this recording Semele seems a great oratorio but hardly a great opera, & watching it adds little to the pleasure of listening. So it would seem we have to wait for the "genuine" "English interpretation" referred to by an earlier reviewer to enjoy Semele as opera (to be followed no doubt by a genuine German interpretation of the Ring - too bad for John Tomlinson's Wotan, a truly Russian one of Boris Godunov - there you go, Robert Lloyd, & what was John Vickers thinking of when he did Otello??). And as for Handel & opera on DVD, by far the best is still Rodelinda with Anna Antoniacci & Andreas Scholl, from Glyndebourne (genuinely.... great) Rodelinda - Glyndebourne Festival Opera [DVD] [1998].
An oratorio presented in operatic form - By: Mr. John A. Coulson, 12 Jul 2009 
There is conjecture about this being an oratorio rather than an opera as it is based on an English opera libretto by Congreve. One train of thought suggests that, with opera waningin popularity, the oratorio form was needed for success to regain prosperity for the composer.
That said the Zurich performance is most definitelyin operatic form but the result is strange at times with the chorus dressed upin dinner suits & evening gowns.
The plot uses mythology to illustrate that greed ultimately destroys the individual,in this case Semele sung by Cecilia Bartoli, who demanded immortality from Jupiter who had whisked her off to a specially built palace.
Bartoli isin fine singing voice & often outshines othersin the cast. The oratorio style is often evidentin the singing but this is not a somber work as there is comedy mixed with some bawdiness with Bartoli spending a lot of the time romping aroundin a nightdress.. So overall it is quite a different work which receives a unique presentation.
First class audio & video.
Regarded as one of Handel's masterpieces this production deserves a placein your collection.
Very VERY disappointing - not a patch on ENO's original - By: Geoffers, 21 May 2009 
Handel's Semele has some of the composer's most appealing music. And being setin English is totally accessible.
This imaginative, witty (and often laugh-out-loud funny) as well as dramatic telling of the story as performed originally by English National Opera with the wonderful Rosemary Josshua, John Mark Ainsley & sublime Susan Bickley was a total joy. The version nods a gentle wink at the Windsors & the tabloids which was totally captured by the English cast.
Sadly this DVD's ZURICH production with an international cast, dubious & irritating diction, & hopelessly inadequate old-fashioned 'operatic' (mugging & melodrama) acting simply doesn't understand or convey the wit & humour of the original. A complete let-down.
Why no original ENO DVD & Blu-ray? Why was the BBC televised version from ENO never transferred to this media? Come on BBC, release it (on Blu-ray please) so that we can all see & hear the stunning authentic Handel singing, & fine acting of Rosemary Josshua (as Semele), & the fantastic characterisation & singing of Susan Bickley (as Juno) to mention just two of the excellent cast. I'd buy it, & so, I'm sure, would anyone else who saw it. It's an English opera which genuinely benefits from an English interpretation.
In the meantime I'll ignore this Blu-ray purchase & go back to the next best thing - the glorious, spot on dazzling vocal performance from Kathleen Battle on CD.
