Pietro Antonio Cesti was one of the most outstanding champions of 17th-century Venetian opera, and La Dori was both his greatest success and a major influence on the genre in the expressiveness of its arias and duets. The story is set in Babylon on the shores of the Euphrates, and is a convoluted and richly tragicomedic tale oflost lovers, disguises and mistaken identities filled with larger-thanlife and colourfully costumed characters. This revival of a forgotten masterpiece was acclaimed as ‘a production of the highest level in every aspect’ (musicaculturaonline.it).

Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli and Emőke Baráth, SopranosFrancesca Ascioti, Mezzo-soprano • Rupert Enticknap, CountertenorBradley Smith and Alberto Allegrezza, TenorsPietro Di Bianco, Bass-baritone • Federico Sacchi, BassAccademia Bizantina • Ottavio Dantone, ConductorStefano Vizioli, Stage DirectorLibretto by Giovanni Filippo Apolloni