Il Pomo d'Oro

Power and pride: superstar counter-tenor Franco Fagioli heads the cast as the hot-blooded Persian tyrant Xerxes, one of Handel’s most compelling dramatic creations.\nThis gloriously colourful opera, which includes one of the 18th century’s very greatest melodies – the aria ‘Ombra mai fu’ – should make a magnificent opening to our focus on Il Pomo d’Oro this season.\nSince performing Handel’s Tamerlano at the Barbican in 2015, this flamboyant Italian period instrument group has picked up a Gramophone Award with Maxim Emelyanychev. Everything they do feels theatrical, and with Franco Fagioli in the title role – plus a cast that includes the brilliant Vivica Genoux as Arsamene – this should be another night of Baroque opera designed to dazzle, astonish and stir.