One of the deficiencies of the city's leading opera company, Washington National Opera, is that lately they think of Mozart as early opera. The last time the WNO staged an opera from before 1775 or so was Handel's Julius Caesar in 2000 and the same composer's Agrippina in 1992 before that. Baroque opera is one of my major interests, and Handel is great, but there is a century of Baroque opera before Handel, too. We are lucky, however, to have some of the smaller companies in the area to fill the gap: Opera Lafayette has recently brought us Rameau and Lully, for example. Even better, two companies are mounting actual staged performances of Baroque operas this summer. If you want to see what opera was like in its infancy, check it out.

IGNOTI DEI:
>> An exciting, young opera company from Baltimore, Ignoti Dei Opera, is coming to Washington for its first production, as part of the Washington Early Music Festival. This weekend (June 16 and 17, 8 p.m.; June 18, 2:30 p.m.) they will present fully staged performances, with Baroque orchestra, of Cavalli's opera La Didone (1641), for the first time ever on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. The venue is the Harold and Sylvia Greenberg Theatre (4200 Wisconsin Ave. NW), on the campus of American University. Tickets: $35 or $45. If you want to learn something about this opera, there will be a roundtable discussion this Monday (June 12, 6:30 p.m.), with a press conference preceding at 5 p.m., at the Italian Cultural Institute (2025 M St. NW). To attend the roundtable, you have to RSVP at (202) 223-9800 ext. 1.

WOLF TRAP:
>> Starting the same weekend, the Wolf Trap Opera Company is performing Telemann's Orpheus (1726) in the Filene Center at Wolf Trap, in Fairfax. Performances are scheduled for Friday (June 16, 8 p.m.) and Sunday (June 18, 2 p.m.) and the following weekend (June 23, 8 p.m., and June 25, 2 p.m.). Tickets: $58. One hour before each performance, there is a free Inside the Opera discussion.

WORTH MENTIONING:
>> I mentioned the June Chamber Music Festival at the Kreeger Museum (2401 Foxhall Rd. NW) last week. I went on Friday night and had a delightful time looking at the Philip Johnson building, the top-notch art collection, and listening to good music. It concludes this week with two more performances by the American Chamber Players (Miles Hoffman, artistic director) on Tuesday (June 13, 7:30 p.m.) and Friday (June 16, 7:30 p.m.). Tickets: $28. Call (202) 338-3552 for a reservation.

>> The National Symphony Orchestra is giving another series of Mozart anniversary concerts this week, called Composer Portrait: Mozart. There are two singers joining the NSO, soprano Jennifer Casey Cabot and tenor Benjamin Butterfield. Far more interesting, however, is the program of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, because it will be led by guest conductor Marin Alsop, who will be taking over the BSO in the fall. Violinist Joshua Bell, possibly the best young American violinist of his generation, will join them for John Corigliano's violin concerto, called The Red Violin and adapted from the composer's music for the movie of that name. However, you will have to go to Baltimore (June 15 and 16, 8 p.m., or the casual concert version on June 17, 11 a.m.) to hear this concert at Meyerhoff Hall.

>> Your only free concert this week is on Sunday (June 18, 6:30 p.m.) at the National Gallery of Art (West Building, West Garden Court). The National Gallery of Art Vocal Arts Ensemble will sing madrigals by Verdelot, Arcadelt, Rore, and other Italian masters, as part of this summer's Washington Early Music Festival, which continues all this month.

>> For more concerts, go to Ionarts.