The concert featuring Le Sommeil led by mezzo-soprano Margarita Slepakova will be an encounter with opera music by three Baroque artists: George Frideric Handel, John Eccles, and Marin Marais. The works presented are themed on the story of Semele. In Greek mythology, she was a Theban princess and lover of Zeus. A jealous Hera decided to punish her rival, so in the form of a mortal, she persuaded her to test Zeus by ordering him to reveal himself in his true form. The lord of thunder complied with her request, but Semele died, struck by lightning. Her unborn child survived and was sewn into its father’s thigh. A few months later, the god of fertility, theatre and wine – Dionysus – was born.

George Frideric Handel’s three-act opera Semele was first staged at Covent Garden in London in February 1744. It was performed only six times during the composer’s lifetime. It is said that the audience during Lent, expecting a story based on biblical themes, was baffled by the erotic tale set in mythological realities. The work was then presented in concert form, but it was not until much later, in the 20th century, that it was produced again in an opera theatre. During the premiere, the title role was sung by the French soprano Élisabeth Duparc, called “La Francesina” by the audience of the time. Handel used an already existing English-language libretto by William Congreve in his work – it was written in 1705 and 1706 for an opera by the librettist’s friend, John Eccles, and was based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The work of Congreve and Eccles was even less fortunate than Handel’s composition, because after it was written, it was never performed... even once, and Christopher Rich, the manager of Drury Lane, claimed that the tastes of the audience had changed. The opera premiered in 1964, more than two hundred and fifty years after it was completed.

The story told by Ovid also inspired the French composer Marin Marais. He became known to a wider audience thanks to the 1991 film Tous les matins du monde, for which Jordi Savall composed the soundtrack. Marais’s Sémélé was first performed in April 1709 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. The libretto, written by Antoine Houdar de la Motte, was divided into five acts. This work was not a success, but this time the obstacle was... the weather. The winter of 1708/09 was exceptionally harsh (it is remembered as Le Grand Hiver), and the famine caused by the lack of food led to riots in the streets of Paris. Few people thought about music at that time, and Marais soon retired and devoted himself to writing pieces for his beloved viola da gamba. And Sémélé? It was not performed again until 2006, during the celebrations of Marais’ 350th birthday.