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.