This episode we present, Handel’s Xerxes, an opera that initially failed at the box office for being too silly and unorthodox. Today’s audiences love it. . . for being so silly and unorthodox. This Baroque opera features the ancient king of Persia, mistaken identities, disguises, and an unusually seductive tree. This work is distinguished by its unusual arrangement of vocal parts: a woman singing as a man, a man singing in the female range, and one part whose casting requirements are totally different now than they were 300 years ago.

With Pat and special guest co-host Grant.