Handel's Semele: the Wedding of the Year!

Witness The Wedding of the Year, filmed at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in New Zealand. Handel’s Baroque masterpiece Semele scandalised audiences in 1774!

A stunning recording of Handel’s masterpiece, starring some of New Zealand’s finest voices. Witness The Wedding of the Year, filmed at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland, New Zealand. Handel’s Baroque masterpiece Semele is an exciting mix of opera and oratorio. Unlike his much more famous Messiah, this work scandalised audiences when first performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London in 1774.

Drawn from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the sensual story explores a love triangle between Jupiter, King of the Gods, his wife, the goddess Juno, and his lover, the mortal princess Semele…

Winner of the Best Entertainment Programme at the NZTV Awards 2023.

“A remarkable production… a brilliant theatrical phenomenon, surprising, amusing and utterly engrossing” (Opera Magazine)

"This is theatre and music of the highest level of enjoyment with its delightful performance, gorgeous staging and lush design. And how often do you get invited to the wedding of the year?" (New Zealand - Radio 13)

Genre Opera
Recording date September 2021
Stage Director Thomas de Mallet Burgess and Jacqueline Coats
TV Director Rebecca Tansley
Orchestra / Band New Zealand Opera Baroque Orchestra
Conductor Peter Walls
Soloist Emma Pearson; Amitai Pati; Sarah Castle; Paul Whelan; Stephen Diaz; Chelsea Dolman; Sashe Angelovski