Opening during The Great Frost, an extraordinarily cold European winter that afflicted France particularly hard with food shortages and violent revolts in the streets of Paris, demand for Sémélé (and other new works introduced during this period) was modest.

The following year, the same ensemble presented Sémélé (minus Marais' 30-minute prologue, which was cut) in a fully staged production directed by Olivier Simonnet in Montpellier.

[1] The opera was presented for the first time outside of Europe by conductor Jeffrey Thomas and American Bach Soloists in San Francisco, August 13–14, 2015.

[2] John Eccles 1707 opera Semele is based on the same myth from Ovid's Metamorphoses, and set to a libretto by William Congreve.

Based on a libretto by de la Motte, Marais' work bears significant narrative differences from the Congreve-based operas.

When the noise of their revelry reaches a peak, Apollo descends from the heavens, bringing with him calming, harmonious music.

Act II Dorine and her lover, Arbate (Mercury in disguise), consider Semele's difficult situation and reconfirm their love for each other.

Juno casts a spell and calls upon Furies and Demons from Hell to frighten Semele, who decides that she will ask Jupiter to prove his identity to her.

Jupiter tries to persuade Semele to forget his grandeur and dream of his tenderness, but she cannot quiet her doubts and demands that he appear in his full splendor.

Adraste accepts his impending fate as the result of both his love for Semele and her ambitious pursuit of glory as the lover of Jupiter.

[3] A recording of instrumental music from the opera, performed by Wieland Kuijken and Montréal Baroque, was released in late 2006.