Handel's Semele announced for Kilkenny Arts Festival 2022

Opera Collective Ireland and Kilkenny Arts Festival, along with the world-renowned Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, present Handel’s masterpiece Semele from 4 - 7 August in The Watergate Theatre.

A tale of adultery and revenge amongst the Gods, its lyrical arias and dramatic choruses, coupled with a unique mixture of tragedy and comedy make it one of the richest and most compelling of all Handel operas.

Based on one of the more salacious passages of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and with the libretto by the Restoration playwright William Congreve, the risqué storyline is one of the reasons why ‘Handel’s sexiest opera’ was suppressed after only a handful of performances.

The creative team behind the critically acclaimed production of Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses for Kilkenny in 2018, including Tony award-winning director Patrick Mason, leading Baroque conductor Christian Curnyn, and world-renowned baroque ensemble Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, joins an exciting cast of young Irish singers and the dynamic choral ensemble, Sestina for this unmissable production.