Elena_(opera)
Elena[1][2] is a 1659 dramma per musica in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli. It is set to a libretto initiated by Giovanni Faustini (who died in 1651) and completed by Nicolò Minato, and it was first performed in Venice at the Teatro San Cassiano (the dedication is 26 December 1659). Elena was revived in 1661 in Palermo but then not heard again until 2013, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.[3][4]
Just like many other operas by Cavalli, Elena includes a ballo, or an Italian dance which incorporates singers, choristers, and instrumentalists. However, it soon began to be replaced by something analogous to the intermedio, sometimes incorporating a chorus.[5]