La Flora

La Flora, o vero Il natal de' fiori (Flora, or The Birth of Flowers) is an opera in a prologue and five acts composed by Marco da Gagliano and Jacopo Peri to a libretto by Andrea Salvadori. It was first performed on 14 October 1628 at the Teatro Mediceo in Florence to celebrate the marriage of Margherita de' Medici and Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma. Based on the story of Chloris and Zephyrus in Book V of Ovid's Fasti, Salvadori's libretto contains many allegorical references to the transfer of political power, the beauty of Tuscany, and the strength of the Medici dynasty. The score of La Flora is one of only two still in existence out of Gagliano's 14 published stage works. Several of its arias are still performed as concert pieces.

The path to the wedding of Margherita de' Medici and Odoardo Farnese, and to the opera which was to be a key part of the celebrations, was not a smooth one. Their marriage had been contracted in 1620 when they were both children and was intended to strengthen the alliance between Florence and Parma. There were two failed attempts by the Medici family to break the contract along the way, first in 1624 by Margherita's mother Grand Duchess Maria Maddalena who had preferred her nephew Prince Wladyslaw of Poland and later by Margherita's brother, Ferdinando II, who had favoured Gaston, Duke of Orléans. However, Parma held firm, and although an official date for Margherita and Odoardo's wedding had still not been set by mid-1627, preparations went ahead for the festivities, including an opera to be performed in the Teatro Mediceo (once part of the Uffizi Palace).

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