Jacopo Peri

Jacopo Peri (Italian: [ˈjaːkopo ˈpɛːri]; 20 August 1561 – 12 August 1633) was an Italian composer, singer, and instrumentalist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. He wrote what is considered the first opera, the mostly lost Dafne (c. 1597), and also the earliest extant opera, Euridice (1600). He is sometimes known by the byname ll Zazzerino (lit. 'the blond one').