Description
Le nozze degli dei, favola... Florence: Amadore Massi & Lorenzo Landi, 1637. 4to (226 x 162mm), engraved title and 7 double-page engraved plates of the scenes (by Stefano della Bella after Alfonso Parigi), woodcut head-pieces and initials, nineteenth-century quarter calf, 2 plates rebound as folding plates (with slight loss to repairs on verso), minor loss to title at hinge and two small holes, repair to A2, some foxing to margins and browning to title, lower hinge broken [Watanabe-O'Kelly & Simon 1285; Sonneck (opera librettos), p.806; The New Grove ix, 4; The New Grove Dictionary of Opera 3, 855]
Footnote
Provenance: From the collection of Prince and Princess Henry De la Tour d'Auverge Lauraguais
Note: This opera, first performed at the Palazzo Pitti on 8 July 1637, was the last to be held in the Medici court theatres. According to Rondinelli's contemporary description (Relazione delle nozze degli dei), the libretto was set to music by the five principal composers of Florence, who employed counterpoint and entrancing arias, fitted to the beauty of the story ("acciochè il sentirsi varietà di stile apportasse maggior diletto à chi ascoltava"). The composers are unnamed, but evidently included Marco da Gagliano and Francesca Caccini (and, according to The New Grove, Jacopo Peri). The music was organized by the poet and composer Ferdinando Saracinelli, a collaborator with Domenico Mazzocchi, who may also have contributed to the music.