New YorkSince their initial “Radamisto” in 2013, Harry Bicket and the English Concert’s Handel opera at Carnegie Hall has become a much-anticipated annual event, and Sunday’s performance of “Semele” (1744) continued this streak of exceptional music-making. With an exquisite English libretto by the poet William Congreve, “Semele” is a delicious mashup of genres, effortlessly melding comedy, sacred oratorio, and Italian operatic tragedy. Leading from the harpsichord, Mr. Bicket and his forces balanced those elements from...

Source: Wall Street Journal April 15, 2019 19:41 UTC