Semele at Glyndebourne Festival 2023

Semele was another new production for Glyndebourne this year and another opera that I did not know so the decision to see it was made on it being by Handel and having friends who were keen to see it.

The ballot gods had been good to me this year and I sot seat Upper Circle D23 for a respectable £146.

Unfortunately the keen friends had to drop out at the last moment and I had to frantically try and find someone else to take. I was half successful and got one substitute for the two spare seats.

Panic over, the plan resumed its normal course and we caught the train down to Lewes giving us a couple of hours there for lunch and walking prior to the coach to Glyndebourne.

We had lunch in The Depot, close to Lewes Station, before going for a little walk. On previous trips to Lewes we had been up to the historic town and the castle and to the delightful Southover Grange Gardens so this time we headed in a different direction and were more surprised than we should have been to discover Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve just west of where we had lunch so many times. 

The Nature Reserve was in the middle of some improvements and the gravel paths were much welcomed and group of weed smoking yoof were a little thrown by two ridiculously dressed people walking through the woods carrying a picnic basket.

The pre-booked coach got us to Glyndebourne a little later than hoped and with poor weather forecast for later we were delighted that our late substitute guest had managed to grab one of the very few unbooked benches on the upper deck of the opera house complex. A great result.

The rain was not due for a couple of hours so we had plenty of time for coffee and cake, a walk around the gardens and some bubbly.

We were pretty well dead centre of the auditorium and the view was excellent.

The staging was simple, which I like, with something odd in the middle which was more confusing than helpful.

Handel music was lovely and superbly played by Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment played on period instruments, an approach I loved from my first encounter with it some thirty plus years ago.

The story, apparently based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, was a simple story of jealously and revenge. Being simple meant it was easy to follow and the jealousy and revenge gave Handel rich emotions to work with. I think we made one mistake though and I would have left out the final scene and ended with the Chorus of Priests singing Oh, terror and astonishment! which ends with the line "And all our boasted fire is lost in smoke.". But that might just be because I like dark endings,

The singing rather let the show down. The choir was good but for reasons that I know too little about music to explain none of the soloists sparkled and the singing failed to live up to the music.

Semele has sold very well and an additional performance has been squeezed into the schedule which suggests that it might be revived in two or three years. If it is then I will probably only be tempted back if someone is keen to be taken or I want to take a risk on cheap seats,