The recording of Handel’s Serse has won in the category of best baroque vocal album at the International Classical Music Awards 2020. The jury, comprising members from specialized European media, said: “This recording of Handel’s opera Serse will go down in history as the first recording of this work with a countertenor performing the title role. But it is about more than the Serse himself. The phenomenal mastery of Franco Fagioli, who is in the prime of his talent, is framed by an excellent cast and supported by the bright and impeccable performance of Il Pomo d’Oro. Maxim Emelyanychev’s conducting is fresh and stylish, powerfully engaging his creative partners thanks to his charisma and great talent.”

Handel’s Serse is the second collaboration of Il pomo d’oro and Deutsche Grammophon, and it was recorded in Lonigo in early 2018 under the direction of our chief conductor Maxim Emelyanychev. The cast features Franco Fagioli, Francesca Aspromonte, Inga Kalna, Vivica Genaux, Marianna Pizzolato, Biagio Pizzuti, and Andreas Wolf. The recording was also honored in 2019, in the first edition of the Premio della Critica Discografica Franco Abbiati, given by the Italian Association of Music Critics, as opera of the year.