Ercole amante

Ercole amante (Hercules in Love, French: Hercule amoureux) is an opera in a prologue and five acts by Francesco Cavalli. The Italian libretto was by Francesco Buti, based on Sophocles' The Trachiniae and on the ninth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses. It was first performed on 7 February 1662 in Paris at the Salle des Machines in the Tuilleries.

The opera was a commission from Cardinal Mazarin to celebrate the wedding of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Spain. However, the grand preparations for the production resulted in delays and the opera was presented two years later.

To cater to French taste eighteen ballet entrées and intermèdes with music by Isaac de Benserade and Jean-Baptiste Lully were inserted, mostly at the ends of acts. These were not merely diversions, but also served to further the plot.

After its premiere the opera was given another seven times: 14 and 18 February; 18, 22, 25, and 29 April; and 6 May. The theatre was built specifically to present the opera, and if the construction costs of the theatre are included, it was the most expensive of the French court's theatrical productions mounted up to that point.

...
Wikipedia