∙
Francesco Cavalli, La Calisto
★★★★★
Milan, Teatro alla Scala, 30 October 2021
Cavalli’s baroque opera at La Scala for the first time and it’s a triumph
La Calisto is the best known of Francesco Cavalli’s operas. Whether it be the slightly lustful tone of the plot or the irresistible liveliness of the characters, there have been many modern revivals of the work. From Raymond Leppard in 1970 to the legendary production under René Jacobs in 1985, Cavalli’s opera marked the birth of the Early Opera renaissance. It has been seen in a licentious vein, but what can you expect from a plot where Jupiter falls in love with the nymph Calisto who, being a follower of Diana, is devoted to chastity, except that she takes pleasure in the Diana into which the god of the gods has transformed himself in order to seduce her…
⸪
L'opera oggi 