Monteverdi was the first composer to write what we now think of as a recognisable opera, with the story told through song and music.
Orfeo was first performed in Mantua in Italy in 1607. It retells the Greek myth of the musician Orpheus, who descends into Hades to bring
back his dead wife Euridice. Orfeus then tames the fiends of hell with his music.
Opera quickly became very popular in Italy and throughout Europe in
the early 17th century. In 1636 William Davenant secured
a royal patent from Charles I to build an opera
house in London but because of the Civil War and subsequent closure
of the theatres in
1642 this never materialized.
The first English Opera is generally regarded as Davenant's The Siege of Rhodes which was performed in 1656 at Rutland House. In 1661
Davenant converted a covered tennis court into Lincoln's Inn Fields theatre and presented an expanded version of The Siege of Rhodes.
This was also the first theatrical production to use perspective scenery.
The Origins of Opera
