Serse - Xerxes HWV 40
Opera in three acts
-
Ships in 1 to 2 weeks
Share
Details
Description
SKU: BA.BA04076
Opera in three acts. Composed by George Frideric Handel. Edited by Terence Best. This edition: complete edition, urtext edition. Linen. Halle Handel Edition (HHA) Series II, Volume 39. Replaces BA 4010. Complete edition, Score. HWV 40. Baerenreiter Verlag #BA04076. Published by Baerenreiter Verlag (BA.BA04076).ISBN 9790006497836. 33.1 x 26 cm inches. Text: Anonymus / Minato, Nicolò / Stampiglia, Silvio.
Handel started writing “ Serse ” on 26 December 1737 and completed the third act on 6 February 1738. The première took place on 15 April of the same year at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket. Four performances followed, after which the work was not heard again until 1924.
The opera focuses on the Persian king Serse , who, rather than serving as a military commander or statesman, appears at the centre of a highly complex love story. Handel provided an admixture of buffo elements (the antics of the servant Elviro , the stupidity of the soldier Ariodate ) to the standard ingredients of opera seria , such as the broadly declaimed woes of Serse , Romilda , Arsamene , and Amastre .
This interweaving of seemingly incompatible stylistic resources arose in Naples and can already be found in the 17th century librettos that served as the principal sources of Handel’s Serse .
Though unsuccessful at the time, today “ Serse ” is prized precisely for its comic undertones and is regularly seen on stage.
Our new Urtext vocal score is based on the volume edited by Terence Best for the “Halle Handel Edition” (series II/volume 39).
About Barenreiter Urtext
What can I expect from a Barenreiter Urtext edition?
MUSICOLOGICALLY SOUND
- A reliable musical text based on all available sources
- A description of the sources
- Information on the genesis and history of the work
- Valuable notes on performance practice
- Includes an introduction with critical commentary explaining source discrepancies and editorial decisions
... AND PRACTICAL
- Page-turns, fold-out pages, and cues where you need them
- A well-presented layout and a user-friendly format
- Excellent print quality
- Superior paper and binding