What’s in the first opera composed by a woman? ‘Absolutely fantastic ideas.’
“This weekend, the Boston Early Music Festival presents Francesca Caccini’s “La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina,” the latest in its annual series of chamber operas. First performed in 1625, it is known as the first opera to have been composed by a woman. Yet in talking about the piece with Stephen Stubbs, co-artistic director of BEMF and co-music director of the performances, there was no sense that the production was being undertaken just for the sake of checking off a box.”