Indeed, this is its first appearance at Covent Garden for more than a century, but the Opera House has assembled a superb cast of singers for David Alden’s new production who truly bring out the magnificence of the music.
Its rarity can be put down to a combination of three things: first, its length, which at four hours demands an early start and a good deal of commitment from the audience; second, the plot, which is bizarre even by operatic standards; and thirdly, the undeniable fact that it’s not nearly as funny as the same composer’s Barber of Seville.
The story, which has been updated (not totally successfully, it must be said) from Greek legend to modern tinpot dictatorship, concerns the efforts of warrior queen Semiramide to find a successor to her late husband Nino whom she had murdered 15 years earlier.
The main candidates are her consort Assur, who served as her accomplice in the murder, Idreno, an Indian king who hugely fancies Semiramide, and Arsace, commander of Semiramide’s armies, who also happens to be the son of Nino and Semiramide, though nobody knows it.
To add to the complications, Nino rises from his tomb halfway through the story to demand a sacrifice to make up for his murder. This scene is so reminiscent, both musically and dramatically, of Mozart’s Commendatore coming to life in Don Giovanni that one could almost accuse Rossini of having nicked it, but copyright law was more more flexible in those days.
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Anyway, apart from the plot and the anachronism of trying to set it in modern times, this production, after a slow start, really takes off when American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato gets her teeth and musical gymnastics into the title role.
The quality and control of her voice is unmatched and the demands of Rossini’s fast and vigorous music bring out the best in her. With the Opera House orchestra meticulously conducted, as always, by Antonio Pappano, the result is glorious, but the amazing thing is that the rest of the cast seem fully up to the almost impossible task of matching it.
American tenor Lawrence Brownlee is superb as King Idreno, warbling through Rossini’s demanding music in wondrously impressive and confident manner, while Italian mezzo-soprano Daniela Barcellona, as Arsace, gives an equally assured performance.
Her final act duet with DiDonato provided one of those rare moments at Covent Garden when the audience, totally entranced by the music, stopped all their coughing. This was pure magic.
The main roles were completed by Hungarian bass Balint Szabo as the high priest Oroe, who, being a high priest, came the nearest to knowning what was going on in the plot. Szabo brought to the role the authority needed to bring some much-needed plausibility to the story.
Box Office: 020 7304 4000 or roh.org.uk (various dates until December 16)
This production will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on January 6.