SÉMÉLÉ

Shannon’s critically acclaimed performance in the title role of Marin Marais’s Baroque lyric tragedy Sémélé with Le Concert Spirituel under Hervé Niquet from January 2007 is now available on CD from the Glossa label. Sémélé is the final recording in Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel’s trilogy of baroque French operas based on mythological female figures.

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SÉMÉLÉ Shannon Mercer, soprano
DORINE Bénédicte Tauran, soprano
LA GRANDE PRÊTRESSE DE BACCHUS Jaël Azzaretti, soprano
JUNON Hjördis Thébault, mezzo-soprano
ADRASTE Anders J. Dahlin, tenor
JUPITER Thomas Dolié, baritone
MERCURE LisandroAbadie, baritone
CADMUS, LE GRAND PRÊTRE DE BACCHUS Marc Labonnette, baritone

Le Concert Spitituel     Hervé Niquet, conductor

Release date: November 2007 (France), January 2008 (North America)

CD I 75:59

Prologue - tracks 01 - 15
Act I - tracks 16 - 31
Track 18. "Tu gémis vainement" LISTEN HERE

Act II - tracks 32 – 39

CD II 61:27

Act III - tracks 01 - 12
Track 4. "Amour, régnez en paix" LISTEN HERE

Act IV - tracks 13 - 22
Act V - tracks 23 - 35
Track 23. "Descendez cher amant" LISTEN HERE

"Shannon Mercer als Sémélé überzeugt mit einer hellen, klangvollen Stimme. Ihr lichter Sopran verleiht der traditionell machthungrig gezeichneten Frau ein erstaunlich mädchenhaft freundliches Wesen (GLOSSA)." (Das Opernglas, May 2008)

Translation
"Shannon Mercer, as Sémélé, is persuasive with a bright, richly sonorous voice. Her luminous soprano gives this character, traditionally cast as a powerhungry woman, a surprisingly pleasing and girl-like touch."

"Seduced by Sémélé: Shannon Mercer shines in Marin Marais's Sémélé" (BBC Music Magazine, June 2008)
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