Neither Grabut nor Cambert was the first composer who produced a complete opera in England. During the Commonwealth, in 1656, Sir William Davenant had obtained permission to open a theatre for the performance of operas, in a large room, at the back of Rutland House, in the upper end of Aldersgate Street; and, long before, the splendid court masques of James I. and Charles I. had given opportunities for the development of recitative, which was first composed in England by an Italian, named Laniere, an eminent musician, painter and engraver. The Opera had been established in Italy since the beginning of the century, and we have seen that in 1607, Monteverde wrote his _Orfeo_ for the court of Mantua. But it was still known in England and France only through the accounts, respectively, of Evelyn and of St. Evrémond. [Sidenote: THE FIRST ENGLISH OPERA.] The first English opera produced at Sir William Davenant's theatre, the year of its opening, was _The Siege of Rhodes_, "made a representation by the art of perspective in scenes, and the story sung in recitative music." There were five changes of scene, according to the ancient dramatic distinctions made for time, and there were seven performers. The part of "Solyman" was taken by Captain Henry Cook, that of "Ianthe" by Mrs. Coleman, who appears to have been the first actress on the English stage--in the sense in which Heine was the first poet of his century (having been born on the 1st of January, 1800)[6] and Beaumarchais the first poet in Paris (to a person entering the city from the Porte St. Antoine).[7] The remaining five parts were "doubled." That of the "Admiral" was taken by Mr. Peter Rymon, and Matthew Lock, the future composer of the music to _Macbeth_; that of "Mustapha," by Mr. Thomas Blagrave, and Henry Purcell, the father of the composer of _King Arthur_, and himself an accomplished musician. The vocal music of the first and fifth "entries" or acts, was composed by Henry Lawes; that of the second and third, by Captain Henry Cook, afterwards master of the children of the Chapel Royal; that of the fourth, by Lock. The instrumental music was by Dr. Charles Coleman and George Hudson, and was performed by an orchestra of six musicians.