La Calisto
As part of the first Baroque Days under the artistic direction of Elisabeth Sobotka, Francesco Cavalli’s La Calisto will premiere on November 8 at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Stefan Herheim directs the production with an aesthetic he describes as “Baroque science fiction,” in which both the serious and comic aspects of the work are equally highlighted. Christina Pluhar will serve as music director alongside her ensemble L’Arpeggiata, which has earned an outstanding reputation in the world of “early music” for its particularly original programming and sound design. Vera-Lotte Boecker, who most recently appeared as the Fox in Janáček’s opera at the Staatsoper Berlin, will sing the title role. La Calisto is a co-production with the Theater an der Wien, where it celebrated a successful premiere in mid-September with a nearly identical cast.
With La Calisto, which premiered in Venice in 1651, Francesco Cavalli, together with his librettist Giovanni Faustini, created one of the most vibrant and multifaceted works in early opera history. In it, gods, nymphs, and creatures of nature become entangled in a web of love, desire, deception, and jealousy. At the center is the nymph Calisto, whom Jupiter approaches in the guise of Diana, the goddess she worships. A series of twists and turns unfolds, ultimately leading Calisto to become a constellation in the heavens.
Serious and comical characters, tragic and burlesque situations exist side by side. Vera-Lotte Boecker describes this very interplay as a special appeal: “I think it’s wonderful because there are no clear boundaries between comedy and tragedy—it’s both at the same time, and thus very, very true to life.”
Stefan Herheim embraces the opera’s complexity and, together with his team, develops a visual world that incorporates Baroque elements while remaining committed to a contemporary theatrical language. Shifting identities and surprising twists become part of a scenic kaleidoscope that guides the labyrinthine plot through various settings and into a wide array of character constellations. The set design is by Silke Bauer, and the costumes are by Yashi. Karl Wiedemann, Roman Hagenbrock, and Beate Vollack are responsible for lighting, video, and choreography.
Christina Pluhar has prepared a new version of Cavalli’s score for this production, which she presents—together with the ensemble L’Arpeggiata, which specializes in historical performance practice—with great sonic richness and stylistic sensitivity. Alongside Vera-Lotte Boecker as Calisto, the ensemble includes Milan Siljanov as Giove, Giuseppina Bridelli as Giunone, Luciana Mancini as Diana, Renato Dolcini as Mercurio, Arnaud Gluck as Endimione, and Marcel Beekman as Linfea, among others.
The 2026 Baroque Days will take place from November 7 to 27 at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and this year will span the history of opera from its beginnings to Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (featuring Cecilia Bartoli and the Musiciens Du Prince – Monte Carlo in a semi-staged performance) at the end of the Baroque era. The program also features Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, as well as concerts with, among others, Christina Pluhar, Roberta Mameli, Rolando Villazón, Raffaele Pe, the Ensemble L’Arpeggiata, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.