What is the earliest surviving Italian opera?

Answer 1

Objection! That's a loaded question!

Dafne (1598) was the first known work of the genre we call Opera. The libretto was by Corsi and the music by Peri. Unfortunately, this work is lost, we just know about it from contemporary descriptions.

Euridice (1600) is the first surviving opera. The libretto was by Rinuccini, music by Peri, with some portions by Caccini. This was also significant in that it used recitative, a foundation of operatic storytelling.

But--what was the first "great" opera? My vote is for Monteverdi's Orfeo, libretto by Striggio, premiered in 1607. Monteverdi was easily a superior composer to Peri, perhaps the best of his era. His interpretive skills were second to none, and he used a well-planned mix of recitative, aria, and choruses (many in his superb madrigal style). This is an excellent drama and has worn well over the years; if I had to convince someone that 17th-century opera is worth listening to, this is the work I to which I would point them.

But--again!--another important "first" opera was Andromeda (1637) by Ferrari, which was the first performance in the first public opera house, in Venice. All of the preceding works were virtually one-off productions for special occasions, with only sporadic repeats. The opening of an opera house as an ongoing business venture changed the nature of the genre significantly.

Answer 2

The first known performance of an opera by an American was Leonora, by William Henry Fry, on June 4, 1845 in Philadelphia. The first American opera with an American subject was Rip Van Winkle, by G. F. Bristow, premiered sep 27, 1855 at Niblo's Garden in New York. The first opera by an African-American was The Martyr, by Harry Lawrence Freeman, premiered in 1893 in Denver. Frederick Converse's opera The Pipe of Desire was the first American opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, March 18, 1910. The most successful American opera is surely Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, premiered Oct 10, 1935 at the Alvin Theater in New York.

Answer 3

Daphne, written in 1597 by Jacopo Peri. This work however is not entirely preserved. His opera Euridice written in 1600 is the first opera which has survived in it's whole.