Until a week ago, Handel’s opera Serse (aka Xerxes) had not been performed in Melbourne since Victorian Opera’s 2009 production.

Now it’s déjà vu, with the University of Melbourne Conservatorium’s just-closed brief season quickly followed by Lyric Opera of Melbourne’s all-too-short outing. Established artists Sally-Anne Russell and Christopher Hillier are joined by several accomplished young singers in a Regency-inspired production of elegant simplicity.

Premiering in London in 1738, this opera nominally about the ancient Persian king Xerxes quickly disappeared. Finally revived in 1926, it has become a favourite of the modern era’s Baroque repertoire.

According to that debut season’s lighthearted introduction “some imbecilities, and the temerity of Xerxes (such as him being enamour’d with a plane tree …) are the basis of the story, the rest is fiction.” Driven by various muddled romances, it’s a vehicle for heightened emotion and comedy, which is enhanced by some crossdressing.

Sally-Anne Russell in Lyric Opera of Melbourne’s Serse. Photo © Jodie Hutchinson

In this amusing, clearly staged production directed by Beng Oh, the cross-dressing includes mezzo-soprano Russell in the title role, which was written for a castrato. With quizzical facial expressions and silly dance moves,...