Cadmus Clive Bailey Semele Rosemary Joshua Ino Sarah Connolly Athamas Stephen Wallace Jupiter John Mark Ainsley Juno Susan Bickley Iris Janis Kelly Somnus Graeme Danby Conductor Harry Bicket Director Robert Carsen Don't walk, fly (on the mythical beast of your choice) to see the ENO's delightful production of Handel's Semele. This is the way to do sexy traditional English music theatre, based in part on part of The golden ass as well. Most of the credit must go to Congreve, who wrote one of the most brilliant musical drama librettos ever, blending satire, sensuousness and emotion perfectly, and to Handel, who delivered music to match and added some wonderful comic characterization. I'm sure I've mentioned that Leave me hateful light is the best depiction ever of what it's like to get up in the morning for the average slug. But Harry Bicket and the ENO orchestra and chorus get the most out of Handel's music, finding both gleaming bravura to match Semele's vanity and profound sadness in the chorus mourning her death. Robert Carsen's production is already well lived in, having appeared already at Aix in 1996 and Flanders Opera in 1998, as well as a Proms concert performance with the Aix cast, William Christie and Les Arts Florissants. The original concept had Semele as Princess Diana and Juno as HMQ, though Carsen says that this is no longer the case. Juno, as sung by Susan Bickley, is certainly somewhere between Prunella Scales and Rory Bremner as Her Maj, a stern, but slightly scatty autocrat with brown handbag (spot on) and headscarf. Iris is a rather more scatty, but stylish, senior secretary type in a business suit, bullied by Juno but showing strong traces of attitute. Somnus has ill-fitting striped pyjamas. Semele, after her initial wedding dress, wears mainly a slip but tries on a selection of 1950s fashion-plate gowns. The Theban court is St James', with men in white tie and decorations and women in Norman Hartnell in overdyed secondary colours, all sitting on red velvet chairs. Heaven is populated by zephyrs and cupids in Italian linen and draped gowns in shades of blue (as of course it is). The single set is midnight blue, with a single monumental door in the back left. Cadmus views the omens through it, the wedding procession moves towards it on a red carpet, Semele sneaks out of it wraps in a post-coital sheet to sing Endless pleasure, and light falls through it on the stage from time to time. A earth sphere is visible through it, and the back wall is full of stars, as Jupiter and Semele make love and argue. It's all extremely elegant and beautiful, and suggests a dreamy, other-worldly romanticism that turns up imperceptably darker currents until the disaster. The final chorus, a celebration of the birth of Bacchus, is comparatively muted in this production. Rosemary Joshua has sung Semele in all versions of the production, and is completely at home as the highly-strung hedonist. Her singing is bright and accurate, showing off furiously, but she also conveys petulance and confused vulnerablity perfectly. With her strong, not quite beautiful, features, and ability to wear Grecian drape or not much at all, her characterization still has more than a hint of Diana. Susan Bickley as Juno gave a well observed comic performance, and occasionally let rip with real fury, though not often enough. I'm not sure whether her characterization (sniffy distain rather than sexual jelousy) undercut the anger of Juno's word and music, or whether she simply doesn't quite have the force to project in the Coliseum. She can certainly do Handelian rage -- she sang a splendid Deianira at St James' a couple of years ago. Sarah Connolly was superb as Ino, forceful, nearly tragic, and looking quite a lot like Anjelica Houston. Much scarier than Bickley as Juno as Ino. Janis Kelly was very funny as Iris, dozing off in Somnus' cave and gradually getting into her impersonation of the nymph Pasithea (in 1950s rubber'n'elastic underwear). She also sang gloriously. There was a good comic moment when Juno needed to disentangle Iris from Somnus but couldn't work the wand of sleep so bopped him on the head with it. The chaps were rather overshadowed. John Mark Ainsley's voice is ideal for Jupiter, the most Purcellian of Handel roles, and he produced some enchanting singing. But his theatrical presence isn't quite attractive enough. You have to imagine the aphrodisiac quality of power, or assume it's all in the voice, which almost carries him through. Clive Bayley was heavy and slightly sinister, not quite precise but very authoritative, as Cadmus (also singing the priest's music). Stephen Wallace has an attractive voice, but not nearly enough of it, or enough theatrical oomph, to do anything with the totally thankless role of Athamas, particularly in the huge space of the Coliseum. Graeme Danby was fairly coarse vocally and comically as Somnus, but I know how he feels. This was nearly pure delight, enchanting and engaging in a way similar to the ENO Fairy queen, but much smoother and gentler in its presentation. There were a couple of very small confusions. Semele shed her veil and dashed off before everyone else, suggesting that she had already been snatched before she was. There seemed to be a cut between I must with speed amuse her and Jupiter's line before Semele's Shall I my sister see... which obscured what he was talking about. And Jupiter appeared with Juno at the end to announce the birth of Bacchus (and paw another woman at the party) though the words still referred to Apollo. The Coliseum wasn't sold out tonight, though it might soon be. But you can see this (and any other ENO production except first nights) for GPB2.50 if you can pick up a ticket at the box office during the day of the performance. Best value in the western hemisphere.