here-to-stay

OPERA IN REVIEW

Opera can be said to have become firmly established in the year 1600. At this time two musical settings were made of Rinuccini's poetic drama Euridice. The first was by Jacopo Peri (1561-1633), with a few additions by Guilio Caccini (1546-1618). It was performed in celebration of the wedding of Henri IV of France and Marie de' Medici in Florence. The score was published in 1601. Meanwhile Caccini had composed his own version of Euridice, published in 1600, although the opera itself was not performed until 1602.
Claudio Monteverdi's (1567-1643) Orfeo, first performed at Mantua in 1607, is based on the same legend as Peri's and Caccini's Euridice. It also uses a great deal of the Florentine recitative style. But from its brassy toccata before the curtain opens- the first true opera overture- to its happy closing ballet, Orfeo is a complete theater piece, holding its audience by the beauty and boldness of its creator's ideas. Monteverdi's Orfeo is still performed in opera houses for general audiences. Peri's Euridice is given for special audiences- as an historical rarity.