Many operas from the Baroque period are set in ancient Persia and have historical figures as protagonists, even if their story is fictitious. This is also the case in George Frideric Handel’s late drama per musica “Serse/Xerxes”, in which he breaks up the strict form of the opera seria with its long da capo arias several times with all kinds of duets, only two-part ariettas or short ariosi.
Georg Friedrich Handel’s “Serse / Xerxes” at the Staatstheater Augsburg – Munich
