Cavalli: Hercules in Love

The story

Francesco Cavalli, a natural successor to Monteverdi, was the most famous and influential Italian opera composer during the mid-17th century. Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister to the king, commissioned Cavalli to create a Parisian spectacle to celebrate the wedding of the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV and the Infanta of Spain. Ercole amante (‘Hercules in Love’) was the flattering subject chosen for this regal extravaganza combining larger-than-life characters with mythology, and genuine human emotions with natural and cosmic phenomena. The result is a sumptuous Baroque spectacle, conceived on a vast scale in this lavish production by directors Valerie Lesort and Christian Hecq.

Cast & crew

Nahuel Di PierroErcole

Giuseppina BridelliDeianira

Ray Chenez

Ray ChenezIl Paggio

Francesca AspromonteIole

Eugénie Lefebvre

Eugénie LefebvrePasithea / Clerica / Terza Grazia / Secondo Pianeta

Dominique Visse

Dominique VisseLicco

Giulia SemenzatoVenere / Bellezza / Cinzia

Luca Tittoto

Luca TittotoNettuno / Eutyro

Krystian AdamHyllo

Anna BonitatibusGiunone

Ensemble Pygmalion

Ensemble PygmalionChoeur et Orchestre