Antonia Bembo fled Venice to escape her abusive husband – over three centuries later, her opera finally takes the stage

After fleeing Venice, Antonia Bembo lived near the newly constructed Porte Saint-Denis, a triumphal arch in Paris that's depicted in this 19th-century painting by Jean Francois Lebelle. Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images

The Paris Opera has staged iconic works like “Don Carlos” and “Les Troyens,” along with celebrated ballets such as “Les Indes Galantes” and “The Rite of Spring.”

But you’d be forgiven for not having heard of Antonia Bembo, whose 1707 opera “Ercole Amante” – “Hercules in Love” – will be staged at Paris’ Opéra Bastille for the first time on May 28, 2026. Born around 1640, Bembo and her opera remained obscure for centuries, due to the vagaries of her music manuscripts and the historical neglect of women composers.