Ottavio Rinuccini

1562 - Events. Earliest English slave-trading expedition under John Hawkins. The expedition goes between Guinea and the West Indies January 6 - Earl of Tyrone ends his first rebellion by surrendering to Queen Elizabeth I of England January 17 - Huguenots were recognized under the Edict of Saint-Germain March 1 - Over 1,000 Huguenots are massacred by the ultra-Catholic Francis, Duke of Guise in Wassy-sur-Blaise marking the start of the First War of Religion in France. Protestant fo ...

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• 1562 - Events
• 1562 - Births
• 1562 - Deaths

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In Greek mythology, there were two characters named Eurydice (Eurydíkê). Eurydice - Wife of Orpheus. The more famous was a woman—or a nymph—who was the wife of Orpheus. While fleeing from Aristaeus, she was bitten by a serpent and died. Distraught, Orpheus played such sad songs and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and gods wept and gave him advice. Orpheus accomplished something no other person ever has: he traveled to the underworld and by his music softened the heart of Hades and Persep ...

Including:

• Eurydice - Wife of Orpheus
• Eurydice - Connections with other mythologies
• Eurydice - Drama
• Eurydice - Wife of Creon

Read more here: » Eurydice: Encyclopedia - Eurydice

Not only the term, but the art of opera, came from Italy. The first opera for which music has survived was performed in 1600 at the wedding of Henry IV of France and Marie de Medici at the Pitti Palace in Florence. The opera, Euridice, from an Italian poem by Ottavio Rinuccini, set to music by Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini, recounted the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. The style of singing favored by Peri and Caccini was a heightened form of natural speech, dramatic recitation supported by instrumental string music; a technique develo ...

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Italian opera, Italian opera - Baroque period, Italian opera - Romantic period, Italian opera - Modern period

Read more here: » Italian opera: Encyclopedia II - Italian opera - Baroque period

The more famous was a woman—or a nymph—who was the wife of Orpheus. While fleeing from Aristaeus, she was bitten by a serpent and died. Distraught, Orpheus played such sad songs and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and gods wept and gave him advice. Orpheus accomplished something no other person ever has: he traveled to the underworld and by his music softened the heart of Hades and Persephone, who allowed Eurydice to return with him to the world of the living. But the condition was attached that he should walk in front of her and ...

See also:

Eurydice, Eurydice - Wife of Orpheus, Eurydice - Connections with other mythologies, Eurydice - Drama, Eurydice - Wife of Creon

Read more here: » Eurydice: Encyclopedia II - Eurydice - Wife of Orpheus

Cavalieri was born in Rome of an aristocratic and musical family. He probably received his early training there, and was working as an organist and music director in the period from 1578 to 1584. In 1588 he moved to Florence, for Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici had hired him as an overseer of artists, craftsmen and musicians; he helped produce the extremely opulent intermedi that the Medici family required for events such as weddings. Count Giovanni de' Bardi, the founder and patron of the Florentine Camerata, also collaborated on these produ ...

See also:

Emilio de' Cavalieri, Emilio de' Cavalieri - Life, Emilio de' Cavalieri - Works, Emilio de' Cavalieri - Sources and Further Reading

Read more here: » Emilio de' Cavalieri: Encyclopedia II - Emilio de' Cavalieri - Life

Romantic opera, which placed emphasis on the imagination and the emotions began to appear in the early 19th century, and because of its arias and music, gave more dimension to the extreme emotions which typified the theater of that era. In addition, it is said that fine music often excused glaring faults in character drawing and plot lines. Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) initiated the Romantic period. His first success was an "opera buffa" (comic opera), La Cambiale di Matrimonio (1810). His reputation still survives today through his Barber of Seville. But he also wrote serious opera, Ot ...

See also:

Italian opera, Italian opera - Baroque period, Italian opera - Romantic period, Italian opera - Modern period

Read more here: » Italian opera: Encyclopedia II - Italian opera - Romantic period

Cavalieri claimed to be the inventor of monody, often with considerable irritation: "everyone knows I am the inventor of monody," he said in a letter of 1600, "and I said so myself in print." Caccini seems to have gotten more of the credit, perhaps deservedly so, because of his early association with Bardi and Vincenzo Galilei in the 1570s in Florence, where the style was first discussed and probably invented. Comparing himself to Caccini, he said of their two styles: "[my] music moves people to pleasure and sadness, while theirs [i.e. Caccini's a ...

See also:

Emilio de' Cavalieri, Emilio de' Cavalieri - Life, Emilio de' Cavalieri - Works, Emilio de' Cavalieri - Sources and Further Reading

Read more here: » Emilio de' Cavalieri: Encyclopedia II - Emilio de' Cavalieri - Works