Editing List of prominent operas (section)

==1600–1699==
[[File:Bernardo Strozzi - Claudio Monteverdi (c.1630).jpg|thumb|[[Claudio Monteverdi]] by [[Bernardo Strozzi]], 1640]]
* 1607 ''[[L'Orfeo]]'' ([[Claudio Monteverdi]]). Widely regarded as the first operatic masterwork.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author-link=John Whenham |author=John Whenham |title=Orfeo (i) |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O005849 |date=2002 |orig-year=1992}}</ref>
* 1640 ''[[Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria]]'' (Monteverdi). Monteverdi's first opera for Venice, based on Homer's ''[[Odyssey]]'', displays the composer's mastery of portrayal of genuine individuals as opposed to stereotypes.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author-link=Ellen Rosand |author=Ellen Rosand|title=Ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, Il |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O004922 |date=2002 |orig-year=1992}}</ref>
* 1642 ''[[L'incoronazione di Poppea]]'' (Monteverdi). Monteverdi's last opera, composed for a Venetian audience, is often performed today. Its Venetian context helps to explain the complete absence of the moralizing tone often associated with opera of this time.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Ellen Rosand|title=Incoronazione di Poppea, L' |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O902316 |date=2002 |orig-year=1992}}</ref>
* 1644 ''[[Ormindo]]'' ([[Francesco Cavalli]]). One of the first of Cavalli's operas to be revived in the 20th century, ''Ormindo'' is considered one of his more attractive works.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Ellen Rosand|title=Ormindo |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O004544 |date=2002 |orig-year=1992}}</ref>
* 1649 ''[[Giasone]]'' (Cavalli). In ''Giasone'' Cavalli, for the first time, separated [[aria]] and [[recitative]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Ellen Rosand|title=Giasone |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O003539 |date=2002 |orig-year=1992}}</ref> ''Giasone'' was the most popular opera of the 17th century.{{sfn|''Viking''|1993|p=191}}
* 1651 ''[[La Calisto]]'' (Cavalli). Ninth of the eleven operas that Cavalli wrote with Faustini is noted for its satire of the deities of classical mythology.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Martha Novak Clinkscale|title=Calisto |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O004390 |date=2002 |orig-year=1992}}</ref>
* 1683 ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]'' ([[Henry Purcell]]). Often considered to be the first genuine English-language operatic masterwork. Not first performed in 1689 at a girls' school, as is commonly believed, but at Charles II's court in 1683.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author-link=Curtis Price |author=Curtis Price|title=Dido and Aeneas|encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O006883 |date=2002 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |orig-year=1992}}</ref>
* 1692 ''[[The Fairy-Queen]]'' (Purcell). A [[semi-opera]] rather than a genuine opera, this is often thought to be Purcell's finest dramatic work.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Curtis Price|title=Fairy-Queen, The |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O009948 |date=2002 |isbn=9781561592630 |orig-year=1992}}</ref>
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