First performance February 1600 Language Italian | Composer Emilio de' Cavalieri | |
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Similar Euridice, Dafne, L'Orfeo, Il rapimento di Cefalo, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria | ||
Rappresentatione di anima et di corpo (1600) is a musical work by Emilio de' Cavalieri to a libretto by Agostino Manni (1548-1618). With it, Cavalieri regarded himself as the composer of the first opera or oratorio. Whether or not he was actually the first is subject to some academic debate, as is whether the work is better categorized as an opera or an oratorio.
Contents
Since the Rappresentatione is fully staged, in three acts with a spoken prologue, it can be considered to be the first surviving opera as such. It was presented twice in February 1600.
On 10 November 1600 Emilio de Cavalieri wrote a letter arguing that he, not Jacopo Peri, was the true reviver of Greek style acting with singing, i.e. opera. Peri later deferred to him in the preface to the published version of Euridice in 1601.
It was imagined, almost certainly wrongly, that Greek drama was sung, not declaimed, therefore opera was a Renaissance revival of ancient practice.
Editions
There are modern editions of the "opera":
Recordings
In 2003 at Ludwigsburg Festival the conductor Teodor Currentzis presented a concert performance of "Rappresentatione" in instrumentation and performance adaptation for 8 singers and 8 instruments by Alexander Shchetynsky.