Language: Italian
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish

Erismena is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli. First performed in Venice in 1655, it was designated as a dramma per musica.
The Italian libretto was by Aurelio Aureli, the only work by this writer for Cavalli. The work is also unusual for having been translated into English in the 17th century. Erismena is the first full-length opera known to have been translated into English and may have been first performed in England in 1674.

A king haunted by his nightmares, princes as charming as they are fickle, a young woman disguised as a warrior to find her unfaithful fiancé, a slave who wants to become queen without giving up her lovers - and let's not forget the old nurse dreaming of love! The portrait gallery on which Erismena opens promises a dizzying love story. The work of a Cavalli who became the most eminent opera composer of his time, Erismena seems to have achieved immense success from its premiere in Venice in 1655, if we are to believe the large number of covers that were programmed for nearly twenty years to distant Albion.

Erismena is the story of a young princess who disguises herself as a male warrior to pursue her beloved. Murder plots, star-crossed lovers and bawdy clowns fill the stage of this 17th century gem famously, the first Italian opera to be translated into English back in 1674 from Aurelio Aureli’s libretto.

Director: Jean Bellorini (Director), Leonardo García Alarcón (Music Director)
Cast: Erismena: Francesca Aspromonte, Idraspe: Carlo Vistoli, Aldimira: Susanna Hurrell, Orimeno: Jakub Józef Orliński, Erimante: Alexander Miminoshvili, Flerida: Lea Desandre, Argippo: Andrea Vincenzo Bonsignore, Alcesta: Stuart Jackson, Clerio Moro: Tai Oney, Diarte: Jonathan Abernethy, Orchestra: Cappella Mediterranea