Abstract
The beginnings of opera history are usually associated with Euridice by Ottavio Rinuccini and Jacopo Peri as the first staged and preserved example of the genre. Not many people know that Euridice was by no means the main event during the wedding celebrations in honour of Maria de’ Medici and King Henry IV of France in 1600, to which the opera was timed. The audience was much more drawn to the opera Il rapimento di Cefalo (The Abduction of Cephalus) by Giulio Caccini, a direct rival of Peri. As the music has not completely survived, we know about Il rapimento di Cefalo mainly from the reviews of contemporaries. Historical materials allow us to recreate the genesis of the opera, which is inseparable from the history of opera as a genre. The reported study focuses on personal ambitions, court intrigues, and the rivalry between the Florentines and Emilio de Cavalieri. It also explores similar other factors without which the genre of opera would have taken a different historical path. Besides, the article describes the political and cultural landscape at the court of Ferdinando de’ Medici. The history of Caccini’s opera is analyzed against the general backdrop of Florentine musical art of the last quarter of the 16th century.
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