One of the earliest English operas, the opera
is based on the mythological characters described in Ovid’s
Metamorphoses, though the librettist is unknown and has taken
great liberties with the story. Subtitled ‘a masque for
the entertainment of the King’, Venus and Adonis was first
produced in 1682 for the court of King Charles II and originally
featured the King’s mistress and her daughter.
Here is the poster, some pages from the programme
and a review of our performance of the opera last July.
