Semele

Album by George Frideric Handel & Monteverdi Choir & English Baroque Soloists & Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Semele is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel, first performed in 1744. Blending operatic arias and dramatic recitatives with Baroque orchestration, it occupies a theatrical, vocal-centred place in Handel's output that bridges his Italian operatic style and his English choral works.

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Disc 1

  1. 1.
    Semele: Overture
    7:17
  2. 2.
    Semele: Act I, Scene I. "Behold! Auspicious flashes rise" (Priest)
    1:46
  3. 3.
    Semele: Act I, Scene I. "Lucky omens bless our rites" (Chorus)
    4:38
  4. 4.
    Semele: Act I, Scene I. "Ah, me!" (Semele)
    3:52
  5. 5.
    Semele: Act I, Scene I. "Why dost thou thus untimely grieve" (Cadmus)
    3:23
  6. 6.
    Semele: Act I, Scene I. "Avert these omens" (Chorus of Priests)
    3:04
  7. 7.
    Semele: Act I, Scene I. "Cease, cease your vows" (Chorus of Priests)
    0:33
  8. 8.
    Semele: Act I, Scene II. "Oh, Athamas; what torture hast thou borne!" (Athamas)
    0:56
  9. 9.
    Semele: Act I, Scene II. "You've undone me" (Ino)
    3:07
  10. 10.
    Semele: Act I, Scene III. "Ah, wretched prince" (Cadmus)
    1:48
  11. 11.
    Semele: Act I, Scene IV. "See, see!" (Cadmus)
    2:06
  12. 12.
    Semele: Act I, Scene IV. "Endless pleasure" (Semele)
    2:51
  13. 13.
    Semele: Act I, Scene IV. "Endless pleasure" (Chorus)
    1:46
  14. 14.
    Semele: Act II. Sinfonia / Scene I. "Iris, impatient of thy stay" (Juno)
    1:58
  15. 15.
    Semele: Act II, Scene I. "Look, where Cithaeron proudly stands" (Iris)
    6:49
  16. 16.
    Semele: Act II, Scene I. "Hence, Iris, hence away!" (Juno)
    3:38
  17. 17.
    Semele: Act II, Scene II. "Come, Zephyrs, come" (Cupid)
    6:30
  18. 18.
    Semele: Act II, Scene III. "Let me not another moment" (Semele)
    3:26
  19. 19.
    Semele: Act II, Scene III. "Lay your doubts" (Jupiter)
    3:32
  20. 20.
    Semele: Act II, Scene III. "With fond desiring" (Semele)
    3:28
  21. 21.
    Semele: Act II, Scene III. "How engaging" (Chorus of Loves and Zephyrs)
    4:45
  22. 22.
    Semele: Act II, Scene III. "Too well I read her meaning" (Jupiter)
    4:15
  23. 23.
    Semele: Act II, Scene III. "Now Love" (Chorus of Loves and Zephyrs)
    2:27

Disc 2

  1. 2.
    Semele: Act II, Scene III. "By my command" (Jupiter)
    0:28
  2. 3.
    Semele: Act II, Scene III. "See, she appears" (Jupiter)
    5:56
  3. 4.
    Semele: Act II, Scene IV. "Dear sister, how was your journey hither?" (Semele)
    2:53
  4. 5.
    Semele: Act II, Scene IV. "Prepare then, ye immortal choir!" (Semele & Ino)
    1:57
  5. 6.
    Semele: Act II, Scene IV. "Bless the glad earth" (Chorus)
    2:46
  6. 7.
    Semele: Act III, Scene I. "Somnus, awake!" (Juno)
    2:25
  7. 8.
    Semele: Act III, Scene I. "Leave me, loathsome light!" (Somnus)
    4:32
  8. 9.
    Semele: Act III, Scene I. "More sweet is that name" (Somnus)
    4:14
  9. 10.
    Semele: Act III, Scene I. "Obey my will" (Juno)
    2:17
  10. 11.
    Semele: Act III, Scene II. "My racking thoughts" (Semele)
    2:52
  11. 12.
    Semele: Act III, Scene III. "Thus shap'd like Ino" (Juno)
    1:38
  12. 13.
    Semele: Act III, Scene III. "O ecstasy of happiness!" (Semele)
    8:07
  13. 14.
    Semele: Act III, Scene III. "Conjure him by his oath" (Juno)
    1:21
  14. 15.
    Semele: Act III, Scene III. "Thus let my thanks be pay'd" (Semele)
    3:14
  15. 16.
    Semele: Act III, Scene IV. "Come to my arms" (Jupiter)
    2:51
  16. 17.
    Semele: Act III, Scene IV. "I ever am granting" (Semele)
    3:10
  17. 18.
    Semele: Act III, Scene IV. "Ah, take heed what you press!" (Jupiter)
    1:13
  18. 19.
    Semele: Act III, Scene IV. "No, no, I'll take no less" (Semele)
    5:11
  19. 20.
    Semele: Act III, Scene V. "Ah, whither is she gone!" (Jupiter)
    3:21
  20. 21.
    Semele: Act III, Scene VI. "Above measure is the pleasure" (Juno)
    2:27
  21. 22.
    Semele: Act III, Scene VII. "Ah, me! too late I now repent" (Semele)
    3:22
  22. 23.
    Semele: Act III, Scene VIII. "Of my ill-boding dream" (Ino)
    4:11
  23. 24.
    Semele: Act III, Scene the last. "See from above the bellying clouds descend" (Cadmus)
    2:31
  24. 25.
    Semele: Act III, Scene the last. "Happy, happy shall we be" (Chorus)
    3:14

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