On hearing a beautiful voice singing in the garden King Serse, naturally, falls in love. The fact that he is already engaged, and that the singer is actually in love with his brother, are completely irrelevant. He will simply banish his brother, and make the girl’s father an offer he could never refuse. With a plan as stable as his one for the bridge of boats across the Hellespont, Serse never imagines that he will fail.
What he does not expect to encounter is the strength of true love. His brother Arsamene and his beloved Romilda are destined to be together. Some misdirected messages, a couple of disguises, and an accidental marriage later, and King Serse is left fuming and with no friends. How will he redeem himself, and save himself from the vengeance of his betrayed fiance?
With one of Handel’s most well-known melodies as it’s opening aria, Serse is a delightfully silly romantic comedy much like the comic operas of Handel’s successors, Mozart and Rossini.
Serse guide sections
