Orfeo (L'Orfeo, favola in musica) is one of the earliest works recognized as an opera, composed by Claudio Monteverdi with text by Alessandro Striggio for the annual carnival of Mantua. It was first performed at the Accademia degl'Invaghiti in Mantua in February of 1607 and on February 24 at the Court Theatre in Mantua that same year, and was published in Venice in 1609. The opera saw its modern debut in 1904 in a concert version in Paris. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Bernardo Strozzi Claudio Monteverdi (May 15, 1567 (baptised) – November 29, 1643) was an Italian composer, violinist and singer. ... Swabian-Alemannic carnival clowns in Wolfach, Germany A carnival is a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus and public street party, generally during the Carnival Season. ... Mantua Mantua (in Italian Mantova) is an important city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province with the same name. ... Look up February in Wiktionary, the free dictionary February is the second month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events January 20 - Tidal wave swept along the Bristol Channel, killing 2000 people. ... February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venexia in the local dialect), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, 45°26′N 12°19′E, population 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... // Events April 4 – King of Spain signs an edit of expulsion of all moriscos from Spain April 9 – Spain recognizes Dutch independence May 23 - Official ratification of the Second Charter of Virginia. ... 1904 (MCMIV) is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

The action is based on the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, who attempts to rescue his dead lover Eurydice from Hades, the underworld. The head of Orpheus, from an 1865 painting by Gustave Moreau. ... In Greek mythology, there were two characters named Eurydice (Eurydíkê). // Wife of Orpheus The more famous was a woman—or a nymph—who was the wife of Orpheus. ... Hades (Greek: - Hadēs or - Háidēs) (unseen) means both the ancient Greek abode of the dead and the god of that underworld. ...

Orfeo is in five acts, with a prologue:

• Prologue. A "Spirit of Music" explains the power of music, and specifically the power of Orfeo, whose music is so powerful that it is capable of moving the gods themselves.
• Act 1. Orfeo and Euridice celebrate their wedding day.
• Act 2. Orfeo receives the terrible news that Euridice has died; he resolves to go down to the underworld himself to rescue her. He sings a poignant aria on the transient fragility of human happiness.
• Act 3. Hope accompanies Orfeo to the entrance to Hades. Orfeo meets Charon, the guardian of Hades, and attempts to seduce him into letting him pass, by the beauty of his singing. At first unsuccessful, he tries again using his lyre; Charon falls peacefully asleep; Orfeo passes and descends into Hades.
• Act 4. Proserpine, the queen of Hades, is moved by Orfeo's music, and persuades Pluto, king of Hades, to let Euridice go. Pluto acquiesces on one condition: that Orfeo not look back as Euridice follows him back up into the light, and back into life. At first he leaves with Euridice following him; his doubts, however, impel him to look back over his shoulder, and Euridice vanishes like a phantom before his eyes. Despondent, he returns to Earth.
• Act 5. Orfeo is consumed by grief, and Apollo, his father, comes down from the heavens to take his son away, where he can behold the image of Euridice forever in the stars.

Orfeo is marked by its dramatic power and lively orchestration. Monteverdi used 15 viols, 2 violins, 2 large and 2 ordinary flutes, 2 hautboys, 2 cornetts, 4 trumpets, 5 trombones, 2 harpsichords, harp, 2 small organs, a portable reed organ ("Regal"), etc. It is an early example of a composer assigning specific instruments to parts; while composers of the Venetian School had been doing this, with varying precision, for about two decades, the instrumentation in the case of Orfeo is unusually explicit. The plot is clearly delineated with musical contrasts, and the melodies are linear and clear; much of the writing uses the style of monody which was pioneered by the Florentine Camerata in the last decades of the 16th century. With this opera Monteverdi had created an entirely new style of music, the dramma per musica, or musical drama. This idea of theatrical works set to music was taken from the notion that the Ancient Greeks had sung their plays. Charon, Greek ferryman of the dead. ... There is also an asteroid 26 Proserpina and a character in Larry Nivens Known Space universe called Proserpina. ... Pluto is an alternate name for the Greek god Hades, but was more often used in Roman mythology in their presentation of the god of the underworld. ... For the use of the term orchestration in computer science, see orchestration (computers) Orchestration or arrangement is the study and practice of arranging music for an orchestra or musical ensemble. ... In music history, the Venetian School is a term used to describe the composers working in Venice from about 1550 to around 1610; it also describes the music they produced. ... // Plot in literature, theater, movies According to Aristotles Poetics, a plot in literature is the arrangement of incidents that (ideally) each follow plausibly from the other. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Caccini, Le Nuove musiche, 1601, title page Monody is a kind of music distinguished by having a single melodic line and accompaniment. ... The Florentine Camerata was a group of humanists, musicians, poets and intellectuals in late Renaissance Florence who gathered under the patronage of Count Giovanni de Bardi to discuss and guide trends in the arts, especially music and drama. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... National motto: Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος (Greek: Liberty or Death) Official language Greek Capital Athens Largest city Athens President Károlos Papoúlias Prime Minister Kóstas Karamanlís Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 70th 310,000 km² including Aegean, rivers, lakes and islets Population  - Total (2004)  - Density Ranked 74th 11,018,000 81/km...

Monteverdi's operas are usually labelled "early Baroque," or sometimes "pre-Baroque." Music in northern Italy at this time was in transition between the style of the late Renaissance and the early Baroque, and progressive composers such as Monteverdi combined the stylistic trends prevalent in the various musical centers such as Florence, Venice and Ferrara. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 to 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E www. ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venexia in the local dialect), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, 45°26′N 12°19′E, population 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Ferrara is a town, an archiepiscopal see and a province in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, capital city of the province of Ferrara. ...

References and further reading

• John Whenham: "Orfeo", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 9, 2004), (subscription access)