2022 begins with one of my favorite Handel operas. Semele is full of some of the most beautiful music Handel ever wrote. The opera is best known for the virtuosic title role, but my favorite pieces all come from supporting characters. Juno has the thrilling ‘Iris, Hence Away’ and Ino some of the most hauntingly beautiful music in the whole show. The dual role of Somnus features a magical descent into the realm of sleep finishing with the languid aria ‘Leave Me, Loathsome Light’. It is a remarkable moment of stillness around an opera full of rapid fire fioratura and melismas.