Peri the first-first "Orfeo" ever-- in his own "Orfeo ed Euridice" (1600) -- the world's second opera

While Rasi did sing in Peri's "Orfeo ed Euridice", Peri also, and on the first performance, which counts.

"Orfeo ed Euridice" is an opera by Jacopo Peri, with additional music by Giulio Caccini.

First performed in Florence on October 6, 1600, it has a libretto written by Ottavio Rinuccini, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses.

"Orfeo ed Euridice" was created for the marriage of Henry IV and Maria de Medici.

This is considered by some to be the second work of modern opera, and the first such musical drama to survive to the present day. (The first, Dafne, was written by the same authors in 1597.)

The first performance was in the Palazzo Pitti.

Peri himself sang Orfeo, and many of the other parts were played by members of Caccini's entourage, including his daughter Francesca Caccini.

Caccini actually wrote an entire opera of Euridice to the same libretto, and managed to have it published before Peri's (1599).

Caccini's, however, was not performed until 1602, and was never repeated, presumably because of the success of Peri's version.

Peri's "Orfeo ed Euridice" contains one of the first examples of recitative.

Peri carefully paces the voice and accompaniment in order to highlight the tension and release in the text.

The rhythms and melodic inflections in the vocal line imitate speech.

In addition, impassioned exclamations are set with unprepared dissonances and unexpected movements in the bass.

The tenor roles in the opera are various:

Orfeo tenor
Aminta, a shepherd tenor
Tirsi, a shepherd tenor
Radamanto tenor
Shepherds, shades and deities of hell

See also
List of Orphean operas
See the articles on Orpheus and Eurydice for many of the other stage and screen reinterpretations of the legend.
William V. Porter. "Jacopo Peri", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed February 7, 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
Howard Mayer Brown. "Euridice (i)", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed February 7, 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
[edit] External links
Libretto at Karadar.com

Francesco Rasi, the first "Orfeo"

Francesco Rasi (Arezzo, 14 May 1574 – 30 November 1621) was an Italian tenor. He studied at the University of Pisa and in 1594 he was studying with Giulio Caccini.

He may have been in Carlo Gesualdo's retinue when he went to Ferrara for his wedding in 1594.

In 1598 he joined the court of Duke Vincent I in Mantua, and probably served the Gonzaga family the rest of his life, with whom he travelled all over Italy and as far afield as Poland.

He sang in the first performances of Jacopo Peri's "Orfeo ed Euridice" -- and Caccini's Il rapimento di Cefalo in 1600.

In 1607 he created the title role in Claudio Monteverdi's "Orfeo", and in 1608 sang in the first performances of Marco da Gagliano's Dafne.

In 1610 in Tuscany Rasi and his accomplices were sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered for the murder of is stepmother's servant and the attempted murder of his stepmother, however because of the protection of the Gonzaga family he escaped, and his sentence was eventually annulled with the agreement that he never return to Arezzo, his birthplace.

He wrote an opera, Cibele, ed Ati, which seems not to have been performed and whose music does not survive, and another libretto, Elvidia rapita. He published poetry, including in the anthology La cetra di sette corde, and a good deal of monody which survives in the anthologies Vaghezze di musica (1608) and Madrigali (1610). Almost all of these are written for tenor voice, suggesting that they were written to display Rasi's own skill as a singer, and they follow in the style of Caccini's compositions.

Rasi was a well respected singer, whose skill in ornamentation and diminution, beautiful voice, and ability to sing with grace and feeling, led to him being involved in the first performances of many of the first operas.

William V. Porter. "Francesco Rasi", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed July 10 2007), grovemusic.com (subscription access).

Susan Parisi. "Francesco Rasi (opera)", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed July 10 2007), grovemusic.com (subscription access).

Colour postcard of Radames's environ

The First Radames sang here

Verdi's slap on Mongini's face!

The poor tenor, Mongini, makes all the way to Il Cairo only to have Verdi telling jouranlists that he considered the Milano premiere as the premiere (Italics his!).

Where Mongini created Radames

Pietro Mongini, the first Radames.

Pietro Mongini. Italian tenor, first Radames. Mayall Photo, London. (b Rome, 29 Oct 1839; d Milan, 27 April 1874). Italian tenor. He started his career as a bass, but by 1853 was singing tenor roles at Genoa. In 1855 he made his Paris début at the Théâtre Italien as Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), and in 1857 sang at Reggio Emilia in the first performance of Achille Peri’s Vittor Pisani and in Anna Bolena. He first appeared at La Scala in 1858 as Arnold (Guillaume Tell), and made his London début in 1859 as Elvino (La sonnambula) at Drury Lane, where he also sang Henri in the first London performance of Les vêpres siciliennes. In 1860 he sang Manrico at La Scala and Huon (Oberon) at Her Majesty’s Theatre. He returned to London every year from 1862 to 1873, singing either at Her Majesty’s, where his roles included Don Alvaro in the first London performance of La forza del destino (1867), or at Covent Garden, where he made his début as Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia (1868). In 1871 he created Radames in Aida, at the Cairo Opera House. His heroic voice was not used with much subtlety, but in such roles as Arnold, Manrico and Don Alvaro the sheer brilliance of sound compensated for any lack of artistry.