Premiere of Dafne, the First Opera

Background. Jacopo Peri was an Italian composer and singer active during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. He is historically significant for writing the mostly lost Dafne (c. 1597), considered the first opera, and the earliest extant opera, Euridice (1600).

Composition. The opera was written for the Florentine Camerata, an elite circle of humanists, between 1594 and 1597. The project received support and possible collaboration from composer and patron Jacopo Corsi, who helped bring in poet Ottavio Rinuccini to write the text.

Significance. Dafne is identified as the earliest known work that meets modern standards for an opera. It is considered the first modern music drama and the first work in the new form of opera, though the piece is now mostly lost.