Renaissance · Europe · Culture

1607

Monteverdi's Orfeo Performed at Mantua

1607

At the Gonzaga court, the composer Claudio Monteverdi unveiled a new form combining recitative, madrigal, and drama in the story of Orpheus descending to Hades. Opera as we know it was born that night, complete with overture, aria, and the first truly tragic operatic ending. The score demanded an orchestra of forty instruments, unprecedented for its time.

More from 1607 Renaissance

In context

Also in 1607 (2 other events on record)

Jamestown Founded · North America · Politics
Flight of the Earls · Europe · Politics

Before and after in Europe

Before: 1606: Virginia Company Chartered
After: October 1608: Lippershey Applies for Telescope Patent

Before and after in Culture

Before: July 18, 1606: Rembrandt Born in Leiden
After: 1608: El Greco Paints View of Toledo

Era

Renaissance (1501–1650), one of 715 events from that era on Saeculum.

Sources

Wikipedia: Claudio Monteverdi