Portal:Opera/Selected article/31

The Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), in addition to a large output of church music and madrigals, wrote prolifically for the stage. His theatrical works were written between 1604 and 1643 and included ten operas, of which three—L'Orfeo (1607), Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (1640) and L'incoronazione di Poppea (1643)—have survived with their music and librettos intact. In the case of the other seven operas, the music has disappeared almost entirely, although some of the librettos exist. Most of the available information relating to Monteverdi's lost operas has been deduced from contemporary documents, including the many letters that he wrote. These papers provide irrefutable evidence that four of these works—L'Arianna, Andromeda, Proserpina rapita and Le nozze d'Enea in Lavinia—were completed and performed in Monteverdi's lifetime, but of their music, only the famous lament from L'Arianna, and a trio from Proserpina, are known to have survived. The other three lost operas—Le nozze di Tetide, La finta pazza Licori and Armida abbandonata—were abandoned by Monteverdi before completion. How much of their music was actually written is unknown.