To get a handle on Handel, go to the Handel Hendrix House, 25 Brook Street, London W1K 4HB. Here you will find a wonderful homage to two of the greatest musicians of all time: George Frideric Handel (1685- 1759) and Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970). Told of his illustrious neighbour, albeit two hundred years ago, Hendrix rushed out to buy recordings of Handel’s Messiah (1741) and Belshazzar (1744) at the nearby HMV Oxford Street and said he found them inspirational. As someone who believes in the interconnections between high and popular culture, I find Handel Hendrix House enormously uplifting. Everything is interconnected.
Before the disaster that was the First World War, connections between Germany and Britain were rich and fruitful. Holbein for Art, Handel for Music, Hegel for Philosophy, the Hanseatic League for Trade (their HQ is now Cannon Street Station), and the Hanoverians (1714) for a Protestant Royal Family. All this came crashing down on the 1st August 1914 when waves of Germanophobia swept the country. German shops were smashed up, anybody with a German-sounding name was attacked in the streets (John Betjeman was tormented at Highgate School with the ditty “Betjeman’s a German spy, kick his legs and make him cry” his family dropped the second n to become Betjeman). Most notably, of course, the Royal Family changed their name in 1917 from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor. Thankfully, we are now friends again with Germany. Jürgen Klopp was the darling of Liverpool FC, and Thomas Tuchel is the manager of the England football team. So, it was in that spirit of Anglo-German friendship that I went along to see Handel’s opera of 1743, Semele. Handel composed the music, and the Restoration comic dramatist William Congreve wrote the libretto. That’s the 18th equivalent of Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Coleridge invited us to “suspend our disbelief” if we are to give art a fair hearing. I think Semele comes into that category. The music takes a bit of getting used to if you are not a regular Radio 3 or Classic FM listener. By the way, it was reassuring to have Donald MacLeod’s dulcet tones over the PA system, inviting us to take our seats. But give the music a fair hearing, and the rhythms and patterns do begin to register. Again, the storyline can be confusing as it is based on Greek gods. However, it soon becomes clear that Semele is a young woman we have all met. She wants to have it all, as they say. She’s ambitious and audacious, she has a strong sexual drive and she knows what she wants. Unfortunately, the “bad boy” she desires is no ordinary “bad boy,” he’s a God. Not just any old God but the King of the Gods: Jupiter. There is always only going to be one winner when a girl from Earth meets Jupiter, for he has thunder, lightning, law and order in his toolkit. Ultimately, Semele is a morality tale with a message: be careful who and what you wish for. That’s pretty conventional for the 18th century, which was, after all, a very traditional and hierarchical world. But on the way, Semele has a riot, pushing and transgressing sexual boundaries. We are swept along with her in her quest to see what it’s all about. Even if in the end it turns out to be a tragic quest. As Pandora discovered to her cost when she opened the infamous box, Semele’s curiosity proves to be her undoing.
The heart of the opera is the battle of wills between Semele (Hilary Cronin) and the God Jupiter (Michael Lafferty). Hilary is mightily impressive. She walked between the aisles and stopped to sing just next to me as I was in the end seat. Her voice literally shook me up. She is awesome, really commands not just the stage but the entire auditorium, which at Holland House is vast. She revels in the transgressive opportunities this role allows her. She unashamedly declares her sexual desires and appetites: “No, no, I’ll take no less than all in full excess.” Stretching the Hendrix parallel, one might say she was an early member of the 27 Club. No half measures for her, she wants the lot. Of course, it is precisely this insatiable appetite that will prove her undoing. Her vanity and clinical narcissism are vividly realised when she admires herself in her handheld (no pun intended) mirror and sings of her unmatched beauty. She meets her match in Michael Lafferty’s truly terrifying Jupiter. Part Bill Sykes and part Vinny Jones, he frightened the life out of me. He has the swagger and danger of a gangster. Built like a heavyweight boxer, he exudes menace, mendacity and malevolence. But he can do charm and play nice when he needs to. And he goes to great lengths to keep Semele sweet. Even giving her a palace. However, when she pushes him too far, he shows a ruthless coldness as only the King of the Gods can conjure. The finale to Semele is certainly worth waiting for. I look forward to seeing more works by both Handel and the excellent Waterperry Opera Festival next summer.
Review by John O’Brien
Handel’s Semele follows a mortal woman caught in a passionate love affair with Jupiter, king of the gods. Although promised to Athamas, Semele is seduced by Jupiter and taken to his celestial palace, where she enjoys divine splendour and dreams of immortality. However, her new life in the heavens stirs jealousy in Juno, Jupiter’s wife, who begins to plot against her. As Semele’s desires grow and the tension between the gods heightens, the story explores themes of ambition, vanity, and rivalry.
CAST
Hilary Cronin – Semele
Sarah Winn – Ino
Phil Wilcox – Cadmus
Masimba Ushe – Somnus / High Priest
James Micklethwaite – Apollo
Michael Lafferty – Jupiter
Sophie Goldrick – Juno
Nathan Mercieca – Athamus
Louise Fuller – Iris
CREATIVE
Rebecca Meltzer – Director
Jen Gregory – Designer
Bertie Baigent – Conductor
Catja Hamilton – Lighting Designer
SEMELE
A new production by Waterperry Opera Festival, brought to Opera Holland Park
21 and 22 August 2025
