Studies of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Volume VI
This book describes the birth of the opera as an art form in the first half of the 17th century and the first operas staged in Vilnius at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, earlier than in Paris or London – the Abduction of Helen, Andromeda, and Disappointed Circe. Facsimiles of the original librettos in Italian are published together with their translations into Lithuanian. The book is introduced by a lengthy article on the history of opera in early 17 th century Vilnius by the musicologist Dr. Jūratė Trilupaitienė and on court values in Virgilio Puccitelli’s librettos by the philologist Dr. Dainius Būrė.
The introductory articles, illustration captions, and list of the institutional owners of the photographs are published in Lithuanian, Italian, English, and Polish.
ISBN 978-609-8061-01-7