Serse January, the third by 6 February, and Handel put the finishing touches to the score on 14 February. "Serse" was first performed at the King's Theatre, Haymarket on 15 April 1738. The first production was a complete failure. The audience may have been confused by the innovative nature of the work. Unlike his other operas for London, Handel included comic ("buffo") elements in "Serse". Although this had been typical for 17th-century Venetian works such as Cavalli's original setting of the libretto, by the 1730s an "opera seria" was expected to be wholly serious, with no mixing of the genres of
2003 in British music 2003 in British music This is a summary of 2003 in music in the United Kingdom. Both Andrew Glover and Peter Maxwell Davies produced several new orchestral/instrumental works. British film score composer Rachel Portman produced an opera, "The Little Prince", commissioned by the Houston Opera and premièred in the USA. Michael Nyman, during his period as Composer-in-Residence at Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Germany, produced his "Violin Concerto" and an opera "", with libretto by Michael Hastings. It was premièred at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe in the following year. The 2003 BRIT Awards winners were: The winners of the Ivor Novello