La Semele, o sia La richiesta fatale
(Semele, or The Fatal Request)
A serenata in two acts by Johann Adolf Hasse
Friday, March 27, 2026 | Gannon Concert Hall, DePaul University, Chicago
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), Jupiter and Semele, before 1640. Oil on panel, Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels.
“Haymarket Opera unearths another delightful Hasse rarity with “Semele.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Classical Review
“Haymarket Opera Company is on a Hasse roll.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Classical Review
“The concert performance, marking the work’s 300th anniversary, played to a packed, enthusiastic Gannon Concert Hall.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Classical Review
“Thanks to the advocacy of period-savvy musicians such as Haymarket, a modern revival appears to be well under way.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Classical Review
“Once again, a fresh and engaging presentation did Hasse proud.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Classical Review
“Soprano Emily Birsan invested Semele’s ornate cantabile with tonal luster and palpable dramatic sensitivity.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Classical Review
“Through the Jovian command of her singing, Elizabeth DeShong made the ever-philandering Giove a deity to be reckoned with. The bravura vocal roller-coaster ride that is his showpiece aria “Del mio fulmine,” with its fearsome octave leaps and arpeggios, reminded one of the formidable technique that informs DeShong’s plush, wide-ranging mezzo-soprano.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Classical Review
“Karina Gauvin got to unleash vocal thunderbolts as Giunone, Giove’s jealous wife, and she did so with thrilling impact…a splendid vessel for the varied expressive uses to which this smart singer applies it.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Classical Review
“With typical authority, cellist Trompeter assumed the role of primus inter pares as leader of a nine-member instrumental ensemble…The soft timbres and sprung rhythms of the stringed instruments, not to mention their alert accompaniments, added immeasurably to the success of the performance.”
John von Rhein, Chicago Classical Review
La Semele, o sia La richiesta fatale
(Semele, or The Fatal Request)
Music by Johann Adolf Hasse
Libretto by Francesco Ricciardi
Friday, March 27, 2026, at 7pm
Performance length: 2.5 hours, including one 20-minute intermission
This performance is sung in the original Italian, with projected English titles.
Pre-concert talk
6:15pm pre-concert talk presented by Louise K. Stein.
Free for all ticket holders.
Gannon Concert Hall
Holtschneider Performance Center at DePaul University
2330 N. Halsted Ave, Chicago, IL 60614
About the performance
Emily Birsan, soprano
Elizabeth DeShong, mezzo-soprano
Karina Gauvin, soprano
Haymarket Opera Company presents the U.S. premiere of Johann Adolf Hasse’s rarely performed 1726 showpiece, La Semele, o sia La richiesta fatale (Semele, or The Fatal Request). Following Haymarket’s 2023 presentation of Hasse’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra—praised by Chicago Classical Review for providing “outstanding advocacy for Hasse’s rich score”—the company champions Hasse’s music once again, offering a powerhouse trio of soloists in a performance that marks the 300th anniversary of his serenata La Semele.
This performance features a modern edition of the score newly prepared for Haymarket by London’s Prima la musica, based on the sole surviving manuscript housed in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. Bringing this work from manuscript to the stage, this 2026 season-opener showcases Haymarket’s passionate commitment to exploring rare and extraordinary works of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Soprano Emily Birsan, described as “luminous” (The Guardian), “radiant” (London Telegraph), and "ravishing" (Opera Magazine), returns to Haymarket, performing the title role in Hasse’s La Semele, following previous performances with the company in Stradella’s Ester (2025), Handel’s Tamerlano (2024), and Scarlatti’s La Giuditta (2023).
Following her electric performance in Haymarket’s 2025 Ravinia Festival concert presentation of George Frideric Handel’s opera Alcina, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong returns to Haymarket as Giove (Jupiter). Considered “one of the most intelligent stage performers of her generation” (Opera News), DeShong is lauded equally for her musicianship and commanding stage presence through myriad appearances on concert and operatic stages worldwide.
Celebrated soprano Karina Gauvin, “a soprano with true star quality” (Opera Today), makes her Haymarket debut as Giunone (Juno). Gauvin has been praised as “one of the dream sopranos of our time” (Globe and Mail). Opera News stated, "Gauvin knows how to rivet an audience in opera and concert. She has been a queen of Baroque opera for years. Her personality is big enough to dominate her elaborate wigs and costumes, and her soprano voice is like a clear, refreshing and inexhaustible spring that darts and sparkles around any ornamental obstacle in its way."
Founder and Artistic Director Craig Trompeter leads members of the acclaimed Haymarket Opera Orchestra, renowned for its “impressive expression” (Chicago Tribune). Haymarket General Director Chase Hopkins provides direction for this semi-staged concert presentation.
Jacopo Tintoretto (1519–1594), Jupiter and Semele, c. 1545. Oil on spruce wood, National Gallery, London.
The Cast
Semele: Emily Birsan, soprano
Giove: Elizabeth DeShong, mezzo-soprano
Giunone: Karina Gauvin, soprano
The Instrumental Ensemble
Leader & Cello: Craig Trompeter
Violin I: Jeri-Lou Zike, Charlene Kluegel
Violin II: Wendy Benner, Amelia Sie
Viola: Elizabeth Hagen, Bruno Vaz da Silva
Bass: Jerry Fuller
Harpsichord: Jacob Reed
Performance Support
Stage Director: Chase Hopkins
Stage Manager: Alycia Martin
Pre-performance Lecturer: Louise K. Stein
Program Note: Louise K. Stein
Surtitle Translator: Alessandra Visconti and Craig Trompeter
Project Designer & Projected Titles Operator: Shawn Keener
Ushering support provided by The Saints: Volunteers for the Performing Arts
Synopsis
Hasse’s La Semele, o sia La richiesta fatale (Semele, or The Fatal Request) dramatizes the tragic consequences of desire and divine caprice in Classical mythology. Semele, a mortal woman loved by Jupiter, becomes ensnared by her own curiosity and ambition after Jupiter’s jealous wife Juno (in disguise) urges her to demand that Jupiter reveal himself to her in his true godly form. Semele’s unwittingly deadly demand tests the limits of love, trust, and mortal ambition against the power of the deities. This fatal request sets in motion a chain of events that leads to her fiery demise.
Antoine Coypel (1661–1722), Jupiter et Junon sur le mont Ida, 1700s. Oil on canvas, Private Collection.
About the composer
“He [Hasse] may…be allowed to be as superior to all other lyric composers, as Metastasio is to all other lyric poets.” —Charles Burney, A General History of Music, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period, vol. 4 (London, 1789), p. 679.
Portrait of Johann Adolf Hasse, unknown artist, c. 17th century. Museo Teatrale alla Scala, Milan.
The prolific composer Johann Adolf Hasse (1699–1783), known as the “dear Saxon,” became the leading composer of opera seria in the 18th century, renowned for his lyrical, expressive style and mastery of vocal writing. His virtuoso arias and elegant orchestration thrilled audiences across Europe, from Dresden to Venice and Lisbon to St. Petersburg. He was beloved by singers as a supreme craftsman of Italian arias. Following Haymarket’s 2023 triumph with Hasse’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra—praised by Chicago Classical Review for providing “outstanding advocacy for Hasse’s rich score”—the company will continue its exploration of this master composer with the U.S. premiere of his rarely heard serenata, La Semele.
About the librettist
The librettist of La Semele, o sia, La richiesta fatale is Francesco Ricciardi, one of the leading creators of Italian comic musical theater in early 18th-century Naples. His delightful libretto for Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra was the first of two Neapolitan collaborations with Hasse.
Concert Sponsorship
2026 Season Sponsors: Nancy Dehmlow, Ethel Gofen, Axel Kunzmann and Bruce Nelson, Gregory O’Leary and Patricia Kenney, Theodore and Emilysue Reichardt, Candace Rudmose, Lynne and Ralph Schatz, and Pam and Doug Walter
Artist Sponsor: We extend our sincere thanks to Cynthia Vahlkamp and Robert Kenyon for their generous support in underwriting Elizabeth DeShong’s performance.
Lead Concert Sponsors: Amata Office Suites, Debra L. Cox, Lynn Donaldson and Cameron Avery, and Marjorie Stinespring
Supporting Concert Sponsors: John and Claudia Boatright, Timothy R. and Janet Fox, Jerry and Pat Fuller, David and Beth Hart, and Michael and Jessica Young
Dosso Dossi (c. 1489–1542), Giove e Sémele. Oil on canvas, Courtesy of The Matthiesen Gallery, London.
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