L'Arianna (English: Ariadne) (SV 291) was the second opera written by Claudio Monteverdi, and one of the most influential and famous specimens of early Baroque opera. It was first performed in Mantua on 28 May 1608. The libretto is by Ottavio Rinuccini, who took the Classical story of Ariadne and Theseus from Ovid's Heroides. All of the music to the opera has been lost with the exception of Il lamento d'Arianna ("Ariadne's Lament").
Monteverdi wr...
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L'Arianna (English: Ariadne) (SV 291) was the second opera written by Claudio Monteverdi, and one of the most influential and famous specimens of early Baroque opera. It was first performed in Mantua on 28 May 1608. The libretto is by Ottavio Rinuccini, who took the Classical story of Ariadne and Theseus from Ovid's Heroides. All of the music to the opera has been lost with the exception of Il lamento d'Arianna ("Ariadne's Lament").
Monteverdi wrote L'Arianna for the festivities to mark the wedding of Francesco Gonzaga (the son of the composer's patron Duke Vincenzo of Mantua) and Margaret of Savoy. In October 1607 Monteverdi asked Francesco Gonzaga to let him compose the music for a dramatic piece for the wedding celebrations. Monteverdi was wary of his rival composer, Marco da Gagliano, who had already been commissioned to write an opera, Dafne, for the occasion. In the event, the wedding was postponed until May 1608 for political reasons and Gagliano's opera was performed as part...
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