Chapter 13: Claudio Monteverdi

The History of Essential Music, Chapter 13: Claudio Monteverdi - L'Orfeo

The year 1607. Jamestown, Virginia, is established as the first permanent English settlement in North America, Halley's Comet is seen by Johannes Kepler, and Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, the earliest fully developed opera, premieres.

Year: 1607

Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

Album: Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Performer: John Eliot Gardiner & English Baroque Soloists

Genre: Opera, Baroque Music

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643): An Italian composer whose vocal works are at the crossroads of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. He made significant changes to the style of his day. He is considered one of the creators of opera.

John Eliot Gardiner: Gardiner is a British conductor. During his career he participated, with his various ensembles and orchestras, in more than 250 recordings.

English Baroque Soloists: The English Baroque Soloists is an English orchestra playing works from the Baroque and Classical repertoire on period instruments.

Opera: In Western music, an opera is a musical and theatrical work for an orchestra and singers. Characters and their story are told through singing.

Baroque Music: The Baroque covers a significant period in the history of music and opera. It extends from the beginning of the 17th century to the middle of the 18th century, more or less uniformly depending on the country.

L’Orfeo: L'Orfeo, favola in musica is an opera by Claudio Monteverdi to a libretto by the poet Alessandro Striggio. Based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice where the Greek hero tries to save his wife from Hell, the opera is composed of a prologue and five acts. Since Substack does not support playlists, you can listen to the entire masterpiece here:

L'Orfeo playlist

New song of the day

Artist: Kaonashi
Song: I Hate the Sound of Car Keys
Genre: Mathcore

Kaonashi is a band formed in 2018 in Philadelphia, PA. This song could be on a forthcoming third album.