Jupiter, the father of the gods, seduces a chaste nymph, and his aggrieved wife Juno plots revenge. She transforms the beautiful Calisto into a bear. But her lover allows her to ascend into the heavens, where she shines as a constellation. Lust and jealousy are the themes of Francesco Cavalli's opera "La Calisto," which opened the Baroque Days at the Berlin State Opera. Stefan Herheim's impressive production, set against a futuristic backdrop by Silke Bauer, was met with thunderous applause in the sold-out house on Sunday evening.

"La Calisto"

The charismatic soprano Vera-Lotte Boecker shines in the lead role, having already impressed audiences at the State Opera in the title role of Leoš Janáček's "The Cunning Little Vixen." The lustful Giove, sung by the versatile bass-baritone Milan Siljanov, disguises himself from Calisto as the moon goddess Diana, portrayed in the piece by mezzo-soprano Luciana Mancini. The outstanding baritone Renato Dolcini appears as Mercury, who accompanies the ruler of Olympus. Mezzo-soprano Giuseppina Bridelli portrays the humiliated wife, Juno. Amorous entanglements also dominate the opera's subplots, which are seasoned with much comedy – for example, the shepherd Endimione (Arnaud Gluck) is consumed by passion for the chaste Diana, who is torn between her desires.

The period-instrument ensemble L'Arpeggiata and the Academy for Ancient Music Berlin, under the direction of Christina Pluhar, bring the Baroque work back to life in rich tonal colors. "La Calisto" premiered in 1651 at the Teatro Sant'Apollinare in Venice and was subsequently forgotten for a long time. The opera was rediscovered at the Glyndebourne Festival in England in 1970, with the recently deceased soprano Ileana Cotruba in the lead role.

The production shown in Berlin is a co-production with the MusikTheater an der Wien, which is headed by the Norwegian Herheim as artistic director.

The Baroque Days will return to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in 2026 for the first time since Elisabeth Sobotka became artistic director. The first edition took place in 2018 under her predecessor, Matthias Schulz. Baroque repertoire had already been a frequent feature of the program before then. "La Calisto" was first performed at the Staatsoper in 1996, directed by Herbert Wernicke and featuring the Concerto Vocale conducted by René Jacobs .

© MH - All rights reserved.