June 16, 2000

'First Nights: Five Musical Premiere'

By NINA C. AYOUB

It was the case of the missing castrato, and Francesco Gonzaga was vexed. The young prince of Mantua was casting for Orfeo, an opera he'd commissioned from Claudio Monteverdi. He'd asked the Grand Duke of Tuscany to borrow one of the castrati he'd heard perform on a recent visit. Time passed but no singer. Relief came to the noble impresario when the castrato appeared a week before the premiere and proved a fast, if late, learner. Orfeo made its debut before an audience of noblemen in