Born into a peasant family outside the city of Graz in Austria’s Eastern Alps, Johann Joseph Fux rose to lofty heights as Hofkapellmeister in charge of all matters musical at the court of Emperor Leopold I. A prolific composer of the late Baroque, Fux also penned the treatise Gradus ad Parnassum (Steps to Parnassus), which Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven studied as their Bible on counterpoint. Over the past few summers, and with remarkable success, the Styriarte Festival has been dusting off this local hero’s long forgotten lighter operas. The mood darkens this year with the tale of Venus, her son Cupid, and Cupid’s lover Psyche, whom Venus seeks to destroy. Weather permitting, the show unfolds in the courtyard of Eggenberg Palace, a jewel of a setting in perfect harmony with the entertainment. —M.G.