Serse is one of Handel's latest and most frequently performed operas, famous for it's marvelous opening aria "Ombra mai fu." At the center of the confusing tragicomedy, very loosely based upon the life of Xerxes I of Persia, is a powerful and lovesick royal eccentric, King Serse. Rising opera star Gaelle Arquez in the title role of Serse "scintillates with her nimble, luminous mezzo-soprano", singing "irresistibly beautiful, impassioned, furious - but never mean" (Frankfurter Rundschau). Frankfurt's excellent Opern- and Museumsorchester contributes "all sorts of refinements" to this "musical smash hit" (Deutschlandfunk) and "In Frankfurt Tilman Kohler ensures a three-hour short abundant and furious banquett... a great evening of opera." (Deutschlandfunk).