Director Elsie Edgerton-Till sets the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s production of La Calisto at the aftermath of a wedding, but it could have easily be a frat house. The mythological characters of Francesco Cavalli’s 1651 opera – the story from Ovid’s Metamophoses of a nymph-turned-bear-turned-constellation – revel in sexually charged antics that Edgerton-Till exploits to comic (and sometimes disturbing) effect.

Giovanni Faustini’s libretto sees Giove (Jupiter), the king of the gods, return to Earth to heal the planet after a devastating war. In Edgerton-Till’s production the destruction manifests in discarded bottles, glasses and streamers – post-wedding party detritus that litters Isabella Andronos’ open set, backed by a deep blue, star studded sky.

^{Ashlee Woodgate, Allen Qi and Jerumy Dubé in the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s La Calisto. Photos © Patrick Boland}

Allen Qi brings a towering arrogance and a dark, treacle-like baritone to Jupiter. Though he lost some of the power dipping into the low register, his performance overall is commanding. He’s joined at the party by his wingman Mercurio (Mercury), sung with light athleticism and spotless diction by baritone Jeremy Dubé. The pair come across the...