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From the very first opera performance in Italy in 1607, to the origins of some of the world’s most recognisable music, and modern day experimental productions, we’ll share a timeline of how opera has changed over the last 400 years.
Its origins can be traced back to the late 16th century in Italy, where it quickly gained popularity and spread to other European countries. Since then, opera has evolved and undergone many changes, adapting to the cultural and musical trends of the times.
Opera originated in Italy around 1600, but its story began many years earlier with the birth of Jacopo Peri in 1561. During his time at the famed Medici court, Peri cultivated the idea of dramatic singing through his work with Florentine poets, musicians, and writers.
Jacopo Peri’s Dafne, widely considered the very first opera, is performed in Florence. Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, the oldest opera still regularly performed at opera houses around the world, is staged at the Carnival in Mantua for the first time.
The history of opera has a relatively short duration within the context of the history of music in general: it appeared in 1597, when the first opera, Dafne, by Jacopo Peri, was created. Since then it has developed parallel to the various musical currents that have followed one another over time up to the present day, generally linked to the ...
Below, you'll find the core info on the periods with some key operas put in their chronological place. We hope to expand this section enormously, exploring opera's development across Europe and the world, and we've started on that mission with a more expansive history of opera in English.
John Blow's tragic opera, Venus and Adonis, today considered the first English opera, has its première, either in London or at the court of Windsor. Read more... 15 Feb 1686. Lully's final collaboration with the librettist Quinault, the tragédie lyrique Armide, has its première at the Paris Opéra.
