Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo

Emilio de Cavalieri regarded himself as the composer of the first opera or oratorio, with the Rappresentatione di anima e di corpo, (libretto by Agostino Manni). Whether or not he was actually the first is subject to some academic debate, as is whether the work is better categorized as an opera or an oratorio.
Since the Rappresentatione is fully staged, in three acts with a spoken prologue, it can be considered to be the first surviving opera as such. It was presented twice in February 1600.