Blog Post 3
Euridice by Jacopo Peri is known as the earliest surviving opera. This is because the music of the earlier piece “Daphne” is mostly lost. Euridice is about the story or Orpheus and Euridice based off of Greek mythology. The musician Orpheus went to the Hades to try and revive his wife Euridice. Peri intended for this performance to be half spoken and half sung. The premiere of this opera took place in Italy on October in the year 1600.
However, Monteverdi's Orfeo is known as the first work in the genre of opera. After the premiere in 1607, it became incredibly popular and it is still performed to this day. The opera is based on Greek mythology, explaining Orpheus’s story and his decent to Hades to try and bring back his dead wife Euridice.
Due to the success of Monteverdi’s Orfeo, composer Christoph Gluck decided to revise the opera. The French adaptation of this piece entitled “Orphée et Eurydice”. This was premiered in Paris in 1774. The plot is the same as the operas mentioned before. Also worth noting that similar plots of an underground rescue mission where the hero must overcome challenges can be seen in various opera popular operas.
To me, this brings up many questions. How did Monteverdi’s Orfeo come to be known as the first opera? Similarly, how did Monteverdi’s work gain such popularity and maintain it? Why is the story of Orpheus and Euridice so popular and important? Was Monteverdi influenced by Peri’s work at all?
