On April 2, the students in the Boston Conservatory Opera performed Serse: A Baroque Comedy, and while the vocal talents of the performers were very impressive, the performance as a whole was a comedy in more ways than one. Serse is an Italian opera composed by Handel in 1737 and is one of his most frequently performed operas. The work tells the story of King Serse and his brother Arsamene in the trials and tribulations in their searches for love. Serse and Arsamene are players and sleep with many women despite the fact that Serse is engaged to Amastre; however, Arsamene soon falls in love with Romilda. When Serse discovers this, he becomes jealous and demands that Romilda marry him instead. Much crying and fighting ensues.

One of the most exciting parts of seeing an opera is having a story sung to you by a group of highly trained professionals. In this regard, the performers in the Boston Conservatory Opera excelled. The voices that emerged from the actors were out of this world. Sin Sim Tam, who played the part of Romilda, particularly stood out, hitting ridiculously high notes in the final part of the opera. With my eyes closed, it would have been hard to tell the difference between these singers and a more professional group.

However, there is more to performing opera than singing; the amount of talent and skill it takes to sing an aria is undeniable, but the ability to captivate an audience turns a mediocre performance into a great one. Here, the performers fell short. Acting lessons would have been extremely helpful to some, as well as additional time on stage rehearsing with the props. While it was humorous for the audience to see the performers trip over benches and bang into pillars, I doubt that my bemusement was the desired effect.

One of the unique aspects of a da capo aria is that the singer sings the same lines of text over and over. This requires the singer to vary how they express their lines or they run the risk of the audience falling asleep. Unfortunately, this variation did not happen and I found myself nodding off only to be jerked back to reality by a loud horn or very high note. Many of the actors also lacked stage presence, which made their time on stage tedious and uneventful. Some even looked bored.

One actress who was particularly entertaining was Adrienne Blanks, who played Amastre. The role of the scorned lover who cross dresses to get revenge on her cheating fiancé is very rich, with much room for interpretation by the actress. However, Blanks failed to convey much, and her face often had a peculiar expression which was, undoubtedly, unintentionally humorous.

All was not terrible, though. Ariana Valdes, who played Atalanta, Romilda's sister, stole the show. She filled the stage with energy every time she was present and her performances were the most enjoyable of the evening. Valdes alone seemed to understand the meaning of what she was singing and was able to play around with the words in a way that brought in the audience.

Overall, Serse was probably most enjoyed by relatives and friends of the performers, who undoubtedly composed most of the audience. The performance was entertaining, though not in the way that an opera should be.