Serse was not a hit in Handel’s time, lasting only five performances, and was not heard again until 1924, but today it is one of Handel’s most popular operas. Its combination of beautiful arias, painful situations, comedy, truth and triumphant love, guarantee it an important place in the hearts and minds of opera lovers everywhere.

The Orpheus legend has fascinated artists and audiences through the four centuries of opera’s history. Monteverdi’s Orfeo was not quite the first - both Peri and Caccini composed operas focussing on Orpheus’ wife Euridice for Florence - but it brings art, love and death into very sharp focus. The directness of Monteverdi’s musical language is striking, making Orfeo easier to access and less static then many of the baroque operas written over the next 150 years.

Despite being one of the earliest operas, Orfeo feels like a very modern work. Both operas are conducted by Mark Tatlow with the Drottningholm Theatre Orchestra. Serse will be performed between 26 May and 9 June, and Orfeo between 28 July and 11 August.