Sémélé

Sémélé is a lyric tragedy in five acts and a prologue with music by Marais and a libretto by Houdard de La Motte. Like Bradamante and Hippodamie, it was not a very popular composition and was never revived, although it was billed on 25 dates between its premiere on 9 April 1709 and its last performance on 21 May 1709. The prologue of Sémélé centers on Bacchus’s apotheosis with a chorus and Apollon singing the new god’s praises. No effort is made to allude to the subject matter of the…