"Recording of the week: Alder's titular ambitious mortal socialite surely takes the laurels ... Her doomed divine sugar-daddy, sung by Hugo Hymas, is cut from similar cloth; his glib assurances to Semele are airily self-confident, thanks in no small part to Hymas's light, young-sounding tone ... Richardot is clearly having enormous amounts of fun chewing the scenery as a goddess driven to the brink of insanity by her desire for revenge"

"Orchestrally, the English Baroque Soloists play with their usual incision ... The cast is a strongly international one which in some ways reinforces the operatic or quasi-operatic nature of the work and its execution here. Roles are also strongly characterised ... Louise Alder remains the central performer ... she does splendidly ... Presiding over all is Gardiner who directs with huge authority, imagination and engagement. His earlier recording is still powerfully attractive but in terms of intensity and immediacy this live version is finer still"

"In the British soprano Louise Alder we have a new and brilliant young Semele ... Fine contributions, too, from Lucile Richardot's Juno/Ino and Gianluca Buratto's Cadmus. The loyal and committed Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists (leader Kati Debretzeni) shine as ever"

"Det er formelt set forkert at kalde Händels musikdrama om den skønne Semele for en opera ... Så 'Historien om Semele', som Georg Friedrich Händel også kaldte sit sprudlende musikdrama i tre akter fra 1744, blev præsenteret på 'oratoriemaner' på Covent Garden ...Når man lytter til denne nye indspilning dirigeret af John Eliot Gardiner, der har valgt barokvenlige stemmer til at følges med sit eget Monteverdi-kor og sine engelske baroksolister, er man ikke i tvivl ... En opera. Bare med engelsk tekst i stedet for italiensk ... Louise Alder synger Semele med smukke koloraturer, slank sødme og en intimitet, der gør hende til en levende kvinde ... Hugo Hymas er en dejlig, naturligt klingende tenor at lytte til som Jupiter ... En stærk præstation"

"Opera choice: Alder is riveting in the title role as she mutates from soft seductress to vain brat to crushed victim, applying a range of styles to develop her character ... Richardot's intensity equals Alder's, but with less subtlety ... Countering her bluster is Hugo Hymas's warm tenderness as Jupiter, and an always-inventive finessing of Handel's dense score by the band and choir ... Despite Gardiner's caprices, this Semele production is gorgeous, and among the best ever"

"Louise Alders Sopran macht Semeles Hybris vokal glaubhaft durch Glitter und Glanz, und in Lucile Richardots hexenhafter Juno hat sie ein ebenbürtige Gegnerin ... Das Theater findet auf den Instrumenten der fabalhaft beweglichen English Baroque Soloists statt. Und der plastisch artikulierende Monteverdi Choir beschränkt sich nicht auf die Äusserungen von Schrecken und Wonne, sondern verspricht am Ende auch Ersatz für die Liebe: Bacchus"

"Editor's choice: A new recording is always welcome, especially when it comes from someone who knows his dramatical business as John Eliot Gardiner does ... It would seem that Gardiner has also cast his performance with dramatic imperative in mind, for while his singers include relatively few familiar Handelian names, each has a colour and temperament to bring their character to life. Hugo Hymas has just the smooth vocal beauty needed for a sympathetic Jupiter ... As for Semele herself, Louise Alder is a happy choice, her voice rich, fluid and precise, and her agile and alert acting skills finding ideal projection in the wonderful clutch of arias Handel sets before her"

"Næsten fyrre år efter deres første indspilning af værket vender Sir John Eliot Gardiner og hans ensembler The English Baroque Orchestra og Monteverdi Choir tilbage til 'Semele' - Händels italienske opera ... Denne version ... er en mere omfattende version af værket end Gardiners første indspilning. Louise Adler synger partiet som Semele, som hun gav en stærk fortolkning af sammen med Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment i 2017"