Euridice (Caccini)

Euridice is an opera in a prologue and one act by the Italian composer Giulio Caccini. The libretto, by Ottavio Rinuccini, had already been set by Caccini's rival Jacopo Peri in 1600. Caccini's version of Euridice was first performed at the Pitti Palace, Florence, on 5 December 1602. Caccini hurriedly prepared the score for the press and published it six weeks before Peri's version appeared.

Roles

Roles, voice types

Role	Voice type
La Tragedia (Tragedy)	soprano
Orfeo	tenor
Euridice	soprano
Arcetro	castrato
Tirsi	tenor
Aminta	tenor
Dafne	soprano
Pluto	bass
Caronte (Charon)	tenor
Proserpina (Proserpine)	soprano
Radamanto (Rhadamanthus)	bass
Venere (Venus)	soprano

Synopsis

The opera follows the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice quite closely, except that it has a happy ending since Orpheus succeeds in rescuing Eurydice from the underworld through the power of his music.

Recordings

• Euridice Soloists, Rennes Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by Rodrigo de Zayas (Arion, 1980)
• L'Euridice Scherzi Musicali, Nicolas Achten (Ricercar, 2008)

Further reading

• The Viking Opera Guide, ed. Amanda Holden (Viking, 1993)
• Del Teatro (in Italian)
• The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera ed. Parker (Oxford University Press, 1994)

External links

• Euridice (Caccini): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project