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.