Talk:Francesco Cavalli

Latest comment: 16 years ago by Folantin in topic Definite article in opera titles

Untitled edit

BBC said on the air that Il Giasone was the single most-performed opera of the 17th century. Worth noting. --Wetman 04:11, 8 May 2006 (UTC)Reply

Corroborated by Grove, though I didn't know this. Interesting. "... the most enduring popular opera in 17th century Italy..." I suppose we can assume that there were more operas in Italy than anywhere else in the 17th century, so the grander statement follows. Antandrus (talk) 04:24, 8 May 2006 (UTC)Reply

Definite article in opera titles edit

What is the logic for using/not using the definite article in Cavalli opera titles? Does it apply to the works of other Italian opera composers? Just curious . . . . -- Kleinzach 10:40, 24 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

I think it's more or less confined to 17th century Italian operas with proper names for titles. Obviously, there is no English equivalent of this usage (Orfeo and L'Orfeo both translate as Orpheus). There doesn't seem to be a lot of consistency about the use of the article. For instance, amongst Harmonia Mundi's recordings of Cavalli operas we have Giasone (without the Il) and La Calisto. --Folantin 11:26, 24 October 2007 (UTC)Reply