In May, a new staging of Handel’s “Semele” premiered at the Komische Oper in Berlin. Allan Clayton, in coattails, a three-piece suit, and pink socks, played a sprightly Jove, who has just fallen in love with a mortal woman. When he sang the lines “Where’er you tread the blushing flow’rs shall rise / And all things flourish where’er you turn your eyes,” from the famous aria “Where’er you walk,” I could feel something almost literally flourishing in the opera house—not flowers, maybe, but attention and emotion. His voice was soft, delicate, and clean; not qualities usually associated with tenors. Several weeks later, I met Clayton at a Viennese café near the Komische Oper. He wore Adidas sportswear, and spoke to me over the loud clinking of silverware.
Unlimited access to our
