The Halle-born George Frideric Handel rose to become one of the world’s most famous composers after moving to London—and is now regarded as one of the most important LGBTIQ figures in classical music. The Komische Oper Berlin is staging his 1745 oratorio Belshazzar, about the Babylonian king of the same name, in a characteristically “grotesque” production by Berlin directing icon Herbert Fritsch. The performance is conducted by George Petrou. The role of King Cyrus II is sung as a trouser role by Susan Zarrabi, in typical Baroque gender-bending fashion.

Interestingly, the Deutsche Oper Berlin is presenting another Handel work almost in parallel: his popular opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto, meaning audiences in Berlin can currently enjoy a double dose of “queer Handel.”