Claudio Monteverdi

Baptized in Cremona in May 1567, Monteverdi trained there before spending two decades at the Mantuan court, then moved to Venice around 1613 to lead music at San Marco until his death in 1643. He wrote nine books of madrigals, major sacred works like the 1610 Vespers, and three surviving operas—L'Orfeo in 1607, then late Venetian works Il ritorno d'Ulisse and L'incoronazione di Poppea. Much of his stage output is lost. His letters trace the grind of patronage, income, and politics for a working composer. Forgotten through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, his music returned to stages ea…