Details

In a world of politics, lust, violence and murder, Queen Semiramide rules over Babylon - a broken society in which the desires and cravings of the elite are destroyed by their own intrigues and machinations. It's a world waiting to be punished. Having murdered her husband, Semiramide seized power with her lover Assur. Meanwhile Arsace, the son Semiramide thought was dead, returns to court as a young soldier. As Semiramide falls in love with her own son, the ghost of his murdered father, King Nino, warns that crimes must be avenged. With echoes of Oedipus, Phaedra, Hamlet and Macbeth, Semiramide is Shakespearean in its atmosphere. Rossini's use of the chorus is masterful and evocative of classical Greek drama, propelling the action as the tragedy unfolds. In Semiramide, Rossini's music achieves an epic power that makes this melodramma tragico among his most intense and passionate scores. Renowned Rossini interpreter Alberto Zedda conducts Nigel Lowery's inventive production, laced with contemporary political allusions. Sung in Italian with English supertitles. Duration: 4hrs 20mins approx.

Cast/Performers

Myrto Papatanasiu (Semiramide), Hadar Halevi (Arsace), Josef Wagner (Assur), Robert McPerson (idreno), Igor Bakan (Oroe), Julianne Gearhart (Azema), Eduardo Santamaria (Mitrane), Charles Dekeyser (L'ombra di Nino)

Creatives/Company

Music: Rossini
Lyrics: Gaetano Rossi (after Semiramis by Voltaire)
Company(s): Vlaamse Opera, Royal Opera Copenhagen
Conductor: Alberto Zedda
Director: Nigel Lowery
Design: Nigel Lowery
Costume: Nigel Lowery
Lighting: Lothar Baumgarte
Other(s): Yannis Pouspourikas (chorus master), Luc Joosten (dramaturgy), Ute Haferburg (dramaturgy)