Cincinnati Opera’s season continues this week with a production of Francesco Cavalli’s La Calisto (July 17 – 27), a Baroque opera that has a long history with CCM.
Cincinnati Opera’s current production features a number of CCM alumni in the cast, including Michael Maniaci (BM, 1999) as Endymion, Nathan Stark (AD, 2009) as Sylvano, Andrew Garland (MM, 2002; AD, 2004) as Mercurio and Daniel Okulitch as Jove.
La Calisto drew limited audiences during its initial run of 11 performances in 1651. The long-forgotten opera was resurrected by British conductor Raymond Leppard at the 1970 Glyndebourne Festival. CCM actually mounted the American premiere of La Calisto in April of 1972, with a production conducted by Carmon DeLeone with stage direction by the Metropolitan Opera’s Henry Butler.
That production’s cast featured Barbara Daniels, Leigh Dodson, Tom Fox, Brad Liebl, Don Ronci and Nancy Stelling, amongst others. Photos from that 1972 production are featured in the slideshow above!
Learn even more about CCM’s connections to La Calisto courtesy of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
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