❦  The Encyclopedia of Classic Opera
Opera·Almanac
Opera in the Repertoire · Baroque

Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne

Music by Francesco Cavalli · premiered 1640

Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne (The Loves of Apollo and Daphne) is an opera by the Italian composer Francesco Cavalli. It was Cavalli's second operatic work and was premiered at the Teatro San Cassiano, Venice during the Carnival season of 1640. The libretto is by Giovanni Francesco Busenello and is based on the story of the god Apollo's love for the nymph Daphne as told in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Text from the Wikipedia article "Gli amori d", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the Composer

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).

Text from the Wikipedia article "Francesco Cavalli", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Read the full biography →

Other Operas by Francesco Cavalli