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. Sung in Italian with English surtitles

Cast/Performers

Joyce DiDonato (Semiramide), Ildebrando D'Arcangelo (Assur), Daniela Barcellona (Arsace), Lawrence Brownlee (Idreno), Jacquelyn Stucker (Azema), Balint Szabo (Oroe), Konu Kim (Mitrane), Simon Shibambu (Nino's Ghost)

Creatives/Company

Music: Rossini
Lyrics: Gaetano Rossi (after Semiramis by Voltaire)
Producer(s): Royal Opera House, Bavarian State Opera
Conductor: Antonio Pappano
Director: David Alden
Design(s): Paul Steinberg, Robert Pflanz (video)
Costume: Buki Shiff
Lighting: Michael Bauer
Choreographer: Beate Vollack
Company(s): Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House