1597 operas

Dafne (, Italian for "Daphne") is the earliest known work that, by modern standards, could be considered an opera. The libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini, based on an earlier intermedio created in 1589, "Combattimento di Apollo col serpente Pitone" ("the battle between Apollo and Python"), and set to music by Luca Marenzio, survives complete. The opera is considered to be the first "modern music drama."