Title:
EARLY MELODRAMA, EARLY TRAGICOMIC

Authors:
Roberto Gigliucci , Italy

Abstract:
This essay tries to demonstrate that the tragicomic blend, typical of Baroque Melodrama, has born much earlier than what is commonly believed. Just in the Jesuitical play “Eumelio” (1606) the hellish characters are definitely comical; a year later, in the celebrated “Orfeo” by Striggio jr. and Monteverdi, we think to find droll, if not grotesque, elements. The article ends considering the opera “La morte d’Orfeo” by S. Landi (1619), particularly focusing on the character of Charon