Introduction Matinee: La Calisto

The world lies devastated by a great fire. Jupiter, the highest god, wants to replenish the Earth with water, but he spontaneously falls in love with the nymph Calisto, who has dedicated herself to the chastity cult of the goddess Diana. However, this does not deter Jupiter, and in the guise of Diana, he seduces Calisto, who then experiences rejection and anger instead of love during her encounter with the real Diana. Diana herself has fallen for the young Endymion, which the shepherd god Pan observes with jealousy. Jupiter's wife Juno ultimately puts an end to the desires and seductions and transforms her husband's innocent lover into a wild bear. In Francesco Cavalli's opera La Calisto, gods, nymphs, and mythical creatures collide. All are captivated by love and desire, by power and violence, and they portray human passions in a tragicomic manner. The work, premiered in Venice in 1651, questions both the moral values underlying societal order and the associated gender roles. Does Calisto's transformation into the constellation of the Great Bear at the end of the opera signify a break with divine order or a submission? Artistic director Stefan Herheim, together with lutenist and conductor Christina Pluhar, one of the leading interpreters of 17th-century music, will bring this early Baroque opera to the stage as a cosmic magic theater.

In Italian with German and English surtitles

Introduction to the work 30 minutes before the performance begins

Co-production with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin