, he was employed by Gonzaga family of Mantua during his early career.  
Only the lament of his Arianna survives.  He created the "excited style" which is displayed in his The Combat of Tancredi and Clorinda, and his most notable example of sacred work was the Vesprodella Beata Virgine.  A longtime maestro di cappella at St. Luke's, he was employed by Gonzaga family of Mantua during his early career.  His two most noted works concern a Roman emperor's casting off of his wife Ottavia and marriage to his mistress and a musician descending into the Underworld.  FTP, identify this originator of the opera who composed The Coronation of Poppaea and Orfeo.
Only the lament of his Arianna survives.  He created the "excited style" which is displayed in his The Combat of Tancredi and Clorinda, and his most notable example of sacred work was the Vesprodella Beata Virgine.  
Claudio Monteverdi