Jacopo Peri’s Euridice is generally regarded as the oldest surviving opera, and it was first performed in Florence in 1600.
Peri composed Euridice for celebrations surrounding the marriage of King Henry IV of France and Maria de’ Medici. The libretto was written by Ottavio Rinuccini, and the work retells the myth of Orpheus rescuing Eurydice from the underworld. The performance took place at Florence’s Pitti Palace on 6 October 1600.
Peri’s earlier Dafne is usually described as the first opera, but its music has not survived apart from fragments. Euridice is therefore the earliest opera that remains substantially extant, making the distinction between “first opera” and “oldest surviving opera” important.
Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, first performed in 1607, is often called the first great opera because it has a more developed musical and dramatic structure. It is not, however, the earliest surviving opera. Peri also appeared in the original production of Euridice.