This week, teh Festival Aix-en-Provence is set to open a new production of “La Calisto.” The work, which is rarely performed, will see mezzo-soprano Giuseppina Bridelli, who is a highly regarded singer of the Baroque repertoire.

The Italian mezzo will make her role debut as Diana a year after making her festival debut in Aix. Regarding the role, Bridelli said, “Diana is a truly impassioning …. and impassioned character! She is instinctive in all her acts of expression, from mad love to blind rage, all the while maintaining the demeanour of a goddess and, in this magnificent production, the allure of nobility. She is like Jupiter’s female alter ego. In my view, Cavalli occupies a special place amongst seventeenth century composers: if Monteverdi is ‘the divine one’, Cavalli is ‘the most human’ and his characters are always portrayed with simplicity and truth. His music truly speaks to everyone with directness and authenticity, and I love it deeply. I’m happy to be returning to the Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence after my debut last season with Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria, and to be doing so with La Calisto, a work which I’m taking on for the first time, and which will accompany me in the coming season too.”

She added, “The greatest challenge? Singing music from the seventeenth century in the magnificent setting of the Théâtre de l’Archevêché, a marvellous space, but en plein air and, as a result, always insidious for this repertoire. On the other hand, in the libretto, Calisto is transformed into the Ursa major, so where better for this opera to be performed than under the stars?”

Over the past 20 years, Bridelli has shown a diverse array of repertoire from Mozart, Monteverdi, Rossi, Rossini, Porpora, Stradella, Haydn, to Pergolesi, Purcell, and Handel. She has performed at the Theater an der Wien, Cuenca Festival, Teatro La Fenice, Festival della Valle d’Itria, Innsbruck Festival, Rossini Opera Festival, Copenhagen Opera Festival, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and the Malmö Opera.

For audiences not in Aix, “La Calisto” will be broadcast on France Musique. She is also set to perform at the Bayreuth Baroque, Teatro La Fenice, Grande Theatre Geneve, and Theatre an der Wien.

Recordings 

Audiences interested in hearing more of Bridelli, the mezzo has multiple recordings, including “Aci Galatea e Polifemo,” “Orfeo Monteverdi,” and Luigi Rossi’s “La lyra d’Orfeo – Arpa Davidica.”