Francesco Cavalli

Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverdi as the dominant and leading opera composer of the mid 17th-century. A central figure of Venetian musical life, Cavalli wrote more than thirty operas, almost all of which premiered in the city's theaters. His best known works include Ormindo (1644), Giasone (1649) and La Calisto (1651).

Life & Operatic Output

Francesco Cavalli (1602–1676) stands among the composers represented in the OperaPedia catalogue, with 14 stage works entered into the archive. Working in the Italian tradition, the composer's operatic output is preserved here in editorial entries that draw on public-domain reference sources and contemporary scholarship.

The Baroque moment in which Francesco Cavalli worked offered a particular set of theatrical and musical conventions: the orchestration vocabularies, the formal expectations of audiences, the standards of vocal writing and stagecraft prevailing in the leading houses, and the close relationship between composer and librettist that defined the working life of every opera composer of the period. The works listed below should be read against that broader cultural and institutional background.

Each individual entry on this page links to a complete article giving the synopsis, premiere details, language of performance, and notable arias for the work in question. Readers consulting OperaPedia for the first time may wish to begin with the most frequently performed of Francesco Cavalli's operas before working outward into the lesser-known corners of the catalogue.

Listeners and students approaching the operatic output of Francesco Cavalli will find that the entries linked below trace a coherent arc through the composer's career. Each opera's individual page in OperaPedia includes the synopsis, the librettist's contribution, the date and venue of the premiere, the language of performance, and notes on the principal arias and ensembles. Where the source data permits, we also note the relationship of each work to the broader currents of Baroque opera.

Operas in the OperaPedia Catalogue

The following 14 operas by Francesco Cavalli are catalogued in OperaPedia, listed in chronological order of premiere. Click any title for the full editorial entry, including synopsis, premiere details, language, and notable arias.

• 1640 Didone, 1640 Venice's Teatro San Cassiano Italian
• 1640 Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne, 1640 Teatro San Cassiano Italian
• 1643 L'Egisto, 1643 Italian
• 1645 Doriclea, 1645 Teatro San Cassiano Italian
• 1649 Giasone, 1649 Teatro San Cassiano Italian
• 1652 Eritrea, 1652 Teatro Sant'Apollinare Italian
• 1653 Ciro, 1653 Teatro San Bartolomeo Italian
• 1655 Erismena, 1655 Italian
• 1657 Artemisia, 1657 Teatro San Giovanni e San Paolo Italian
• 1658 Hipermestra, 1658 Florence Italian
• 1659 Elena, 1659 Teatro San Cassiano Italian
• 1662 Ercole amante, 1662 Italian
• 1667 Eliogabalo, 1667 Italian
• 1694 Il Xerse, 1694 Teatro SS Italian

Stylistic Position & Reception

Francesco Cavalli's position within the operatic canon has been shaped by performance tradition as much as by scholarly judgment. The works that survive in the active repertory of the major houses tend to be those that combine memorable vocal writing with dramatically effective situations · qualities that audiences continue to respond to from one generation to the next. Other works in the catalogue, less frequently performed, often reward closer study by singers, conductors, and dramaturges seeking to broaden the standard repertoire.

Modern scholarship on Francesco Cavalli has been substantially enriched by the publication of critical editions of the major scores, by the rediscovery of forgotten works and revisions, and by the steady documentation of performance history through recordings, theatre archives, and contemporary criticism. The biographical sketch above and the catalogue of works are compiled from public-domain reference sources, including the structured Wikidata layer and the corresponding English Wikipedia article.

Editorial Note

OperaPedia maintains its composer entries as living documents, revised whenever new editorial work justifies a change. If you encounter a factual error in the biographical material above or in the linked opera entries, please write to the editors using the contact details on our about page.