Vol. 19 No. 2 (2016)
Essays

Sacred Striving in Early Opera: Striggio and Monteverdi’s Orpheus «sub specie Dantis».

Federico Schneider
University of Mary Washington

Published 2016-12-22

Keywords

  • Orfeo,
  • Monteverdi,
  • Dante,
  • Milano,
  • Inquieti,
  • meraviglia,
  • contrafactum,
  • Milan,
  • early opera,
  • marvel
  • ...More
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Abstract

Our knowledge of Orpheus by Striggio and Monteverdi can be enriched through additional considerations concerning its dramaturgy, specifically its well-known Dantean resonances. In the light of documentary evidence that has not yet been brought into the discussion of this work, these resonances may now be framed within the context of late-sixteenth century acadmic Milan, in some ways surprisingly revealing a work influenced as much by post-Tridentine culture as it is by the literary culture of Renaissance humanism.