Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua attended the successful performance of Peri’s Euridice in Florence, which was probabily witnessed also by Monteverdi himself. The Duke realized immediately the originality of this new entertainment and the prestige that would reflect on the lord that sponsored it.
Not only composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi but also Gaspare Spontini was born nearby Jesi. The town is however mainly important for being the birthplace of one of the most important and fascinating figure in medieval history, the second emperor of the Hohenstaufen dynasty Frederick II of Swabia (1194-1250) also referred to as the Stupor Mundi “Wonder of the world”.
Giovanni Bertati sets The Secret Marriage in Bologna not without a reason: Bologna is historically a wealthy city, hometown for enterprising bourgeois engaged in commerce and industry. The city is famous for its towers and long arcades, for the beautiful well-preserved historic centre, one of the largest in Italy. Well renowned is also Bologna strong culinary tradition.
Rossini wrote his first opera, Demetrio e Polibio in 1806 not even fifteen. His official debut was in Venice in 1810 with the opera La Cambiale di Matrimonio. In the following two decades Rossini composed 39 operas, 4 or 5 new ones per year, with some controversial premieres, such as the Barber of Seville legendary fiasco in Rome in 1816 and some extraordinary successes: La Gazza Ladra, Zelmira and Semiramide, the last opera premiered in Italy in 1823.