Name: La Calisto
Start: 2022-11-20T20:00:00
Location: Abrons Arts Center

Kamna Gupta

Emma Griffin

Mannes Opera

Abrons Arts Center

La Calisto, first performed in 1651 in Venice, is the best known of Pier Francesco Cavalli’s 40+ operas and is an astonishing example of early Baroque opera. Based on a libretto by Giovanni Faustini, it’s a wild, bawdy romp through the libidinous underbelly of mythology. The first story is the Ovidian myth of Calisto, in which the nymph is seduced by Jupiter disguised as Diana (a gorgeous reminder that people have been exploring gender on stage, and in life, for hundreds of years). The second story is the myth of Endymion, whose love of Diana is secretly reciprocated by the chaste goddess. Decidedly unchaste complications ensue as gods, satyrs, nymphs, and fools twist and turn within a raucous, unraveling plot. La Calisto’s synergy of sublime music and extravagant emotion feels modern and fresh today - undeniably one of the greatest music-dramatic pieces in the operatic repertoire.