Jacopo Peri, byname Il Zazzerino, born August 20, 1561, in Rome or Florence, is the composer noted for his contribution to the development of dramatic vocal style in early Baroque opera.
Under the early sponsorship of the Florentine Cristofano Malvezzi, Peri had published by 1583 both an instrumental work and a madrigal. After early posts as an organist and singer, he was employed in 1588 by the Medici court and, after 1600, was also associated with the court at Mantua. Contemporary testimonials mention his skill as a singer and chitarrone player.
In collaboration with Ottavio Rinuccini and Jacopo Corsi, Peri is best known for composing what was probably the first opera, La Dafne (1598), and also, in collaboration with Rinuccini, the first opera for which complete music still exists, L’Euridice (1600); some of the music used in the first performance of L’Euridice was composed by Peri’s rival at court, Giulio Caccini. The impetus for this new style of dramatic singing, quite different from the traditional Renaissance texture of complex polyphony, was cultivated in Peri’s association with the Florentine poets, musicians, and literati, including Giovanni Bardi, Vincenzo Galilei, and Corsi, who sought to re-create the simplicity of ancient Greek dramatic productions.
Source: Britannica
Jacopo Peri, to whom belongs the distinction of having composed the first opera, was born in Rome but grew up in Florence. A member of a noble family, Peri studied under Cristoforo Malvezzi of Lucca. From 1579 to 1606 he was an organist at the Badia in Florence, and in 1588, he entered the service of the court of the dominant Medici family as maestro di cappella first to Ferdinand I, Duke of Tuscany, and afterwards to his son, Cosimo II. In 1589 he performed to great acclaim in the giant musical production La Pellegrina, organized to commemorate Ferdinand’s marriage to Christine of Lorraine.
Peri became associated with a group of humanists in Florence, headed by Giovanni de’ Bardi, who were dedicated to attempting a revival of Greek tragedy as the Greeks themselves had experienced it. It was established knowledge that ancient performances had included long set pieces alternating with what might be termed duets and extended choral odes, all sung or declaimed in rhythms that varied according to the emotions being expressed. Dance and instrumental accompaniment were also involved. No music had survived from ancient Greece, however, so these Florentine intellectuals had to make their best guess as to how the music should sound.
The result of this experiment in reconstruction was Dafne, a pastoral drama by the poet Ottavio Rinuccini with music by Peri and Jacopo Corsi. Peri was responsible for the recitatives and some of the musical numbers. Now considered the first opera, Dafne was performed privately in 1597 at Corsi’s home in Florence; as word of its novelty spread it received several more performances over the next few years.
In 1600, Peri was commissioned to write a second opera, again with Rinuccini, on the occasion of Maria de’ Medici’s marriage to Henry IV of France. Drawing on the ancient Greek legend of the miraculous powers of music, they produced Euridice; Peri himself probably sang the role of Orpheus in the first performance. This opera, by virtue of the more public circumstances of its creation, awakened wider interest in the new music. Opera came into its own as an art form over the next few decades.
Peri’s compositional style emphasized monody and declamation, a break from the contrapuntal style of his predecessors, and an embrace of the style that would prove the foundation of modern music composition. In addition to Dafne and Euridice, Peri wrote recitatives for Rinuccini’s Arianna in 1608 and also composed other operas, ballets, and madrigals. From the early 1600s, Peri was in the service of the Mantuan court, for which he wrote the opera Adone in 1620.
Peri died in Florence in 1633 and was buried in the church of Santa Maria Novella, where his gravestone, crediting him as opera’s inventor, is still clearly visible in the nave. Most of his music, including the much of the score to Dafne, is now lost, but Euridice survives and is still occasionally performed.
By Roberta Klarreich
Source: all music
Euridice is an opera by Jacopo Peri, with additional music by Giulio Caccini. It is the earliest surviving opera, Peri’s earlier Dafne being lost. (Caccini wrote his own “Euridice” even as he supplied music to Peri’s opera, published this version before Peri’s was performed, in 1600, and got it staged two years later.) The libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini is based on books X and XI of Ovid’s Metamorphoses which recount the story of the legendary musician Orpheus and his wife Euridice.
The opera was first performed in Florence on 6 October 1600 at the Palazzo Pitti with Peri himself singing the role of Orfeo.
Synopsis
Peri’s Euridice tells the story of the musician Orpheus and Euridice from Greek Mythology. According to myth, Orpheus was a great musician who journeyed to the underworld to plead with the gods to revive his wife Euridice after she had been fatally injured.
Act 1
It opens with a simple melody by a singer representing the Tragic Muse, La Tragedia, and a short ritornello. Shepherds nearby and the Tragic Muse sing a conversation in recitatives and choruses, Daphne enters to notify everyone that Euridice has been fatally bitten by a serpent.
Scene 1
All of the nymphs and shepherds gather to celebrate the wedding of Orfeo and Euridice.
Scene 2
Orfeo is content after his wedding but is soon interrupted by Dafne. She brings the terrible news that Euridice has been bitten by a venomous snake and has died. Orfeo then vows to join her in the underworld.
Scene 3
Arcetro recounts that while Orfeo lay weeping, Venus, goddess of love, carries him off in her chariot.
Act 2
This opens with Orpheus pleading with Venere, Plutone, Prosperina, Caronte, and Radamanto in the underworld for the return of his beloved wife Euridice. Nearly the entire scene is carried in recitative. When the act closes, Orpheus is back with Tirsi and the other shepherds.
Scene 4
Venus and Orfeo arrive at the gates of the underworld. Venus suggests that through his legendary voice he might persuade Pluto to return Euridice to life. Orfeo succeeds and is allowed to leave with his bride.
Scene 5
Orfeo and Euridice return from the underworld and rejoice.
Source: Opera Arias
Sila Blume 
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