While Opera Academy is producing Il Giasone here (see item above), the just-opened Aix-en-Provence Festival is offering Cavalli's Elena, staged for the first time in 350 years. This is the Elena (Helen) of Troy, the one whose beauty caused a war, even though it wasn't her fault that men start wars without much provocation.
Premiered in 1659 in Venice, Elena was successful, but never performed again. (Sounds like the fate of legions of operas in our own time.) The festival production is staged by Jean-Yves Ruf. The performance will be streamed on Medici.com at 10 a.m. PDT, Thursday, July 11.
Also on Medici: the premiere of George Benjamin's Written on Skin last year at Aix, conducted by the composer. The cast features Barbara Hannigan, Christopher Purves, and Bejun Mehta.