Despite featuring one of Handel’s most famous arias, “Ombra mai fu” (an ironic love song to the shade of a plane tree), Serse failed to set the London audience alight when it debuted in 1738. It ran for just five performances, and almost 200 years passed before the opera saw the light of day once again. This 2018 performance by period ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro and director Maxim Emelyanychev crackles with energy, players and singers reveling in Handel’s dramatic and musical feast. Countertenor Franco Fagioli possesses an incredible vocal range and is the perfect choice for the role of the Persian king, Serse, originally scored for castrato.