About the work
L'Arianna is Claudio Monteverdi's second opera, written a year after his 'Orfeo', with a libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini after the ancient myth of Ariadne and Theseus. It was first performed on 28 May 1608 at the Gonzaga court in Mantua as part of the wedding festivities for the heir Francesco Gonzaga and Margherita of Savoy.
Plot
Ariadne, who had earlier helped Theseus escape the labyrinth of the Minotaur, is abandoned by him on the island of Naxos. In an extended lament she mourns her fate and her lover's betrayal. The god Bacchus finds her and ultimately raises her to be his bride.
Cultural significance
All of the music is lost except the 'Lamento d'Arianna', which Monteverdi rescued from oblivion by publishing it separately, in 1614 as a five-voice madrigal and in 1623 in a version with basso continuo. After the singer originally cast died shortly before the premiere, Virginia Ramponi-Andreini, known as 'La Florinda', took over the title role; contemporary accounts describe her performance of the lament as having moved the audience to tears.