Rossini: Semiramide ****
Royal Opera, 19th November 2017
Semiramide is a rare visitor to London. Opera Rara offered a splendid Prom in the Hanging Gardens of South Kensington last year, while the only time Rossini’s opera seria was presented in Covent Garden since 1887 was a 1986 concert performance starring June Anderson as the treacherous Assyrian queen and Marilyn Horne as Arsace, the warrior she makes her consort until she discovers he’s actually her son! Lengthy but full of melodic invention, Semiramide finally made her triumphant return to the Royal Opera in a fine new production seen earlier this year in Munich.
Joyce DiDonato (Semiramide)
© ROH | Bill Cooper
Read the full review on Bachtrack.