Charles Workman

"Live from the Zurich Opera House, Cecilia Bartoli stars in the virtuoso title role of Handel's drama of ambition, vanity and seduction. Now one of Handel's most popular operas, Semele contains some of his best vocal music, including 'Where'er you walk' and the show-stopping 'mirror aria' 'Myself I shall adore', in which Semele spectacularly serenades her own reflection"-- Container.

In 'Marco Polo, an opera within an opera', composer Tan Dun portrays the Venetian explorer's travels to the Far East as a journey of both inner and physical discovery, a voyage depicting spiritual experiences as well as a geographical expedition. At the same time the work, on a libretto by Paul Griffiths, can be seen as a compositional adventure of the composer himself, unifying the various cultural worlds he occupies: a blend of Western avant garde...

An incomparable but obsessive goldsmith is a suspect in a rash of mysterious murders. The opera was first performed in 1926.