Paolo Fabbri's Monteverdi (Turin, Edizioni di Torino, 1985) quickly established itself as a classic in the field of Monteverdi studies. Its rich documentation and powerful new insights into the life and work of so significant a composer in late Renaissance and early Baroque Italy changed fundamentally our view of the man and his music, and set a new standard for bio-bibliographical work in musicology. An English translation was clearly a must.

For the present edition, Professor Fabbri significantly revised his text (in 1988-9), removing much of his discussion of the music, given that it was designed for a specific Italian readership (present readers can find ample material in the rich bibliography in English on the composer). He also added new biographical and other information, and corrected a few minor errors in his original. Other changes have been occasioned by developments in the field. Fabbri's list of works has effectively been superseded by Manfred Stattkus's Claudio Monteverdi: Verzeichnis der erhaltenen Werke (Bergkamen, Musikverlag Stattkus, 1985) - there is a digest in English in Denis Arnold, Monteverdi, ‘The Master Musicians’, 3rd edition revised by Tim Carter (London, Dent, 1990) - and his long bibliographical note by the listings in K. Gary Adams and Dyke Kiel, Claudio Monteverdi: a Guide to Research, ‘Garland Composer Resource Manuals’, xxiii (New York & London, Garland, 1989). Thus we have not given a classified work-list here (although just about every work by Monteverdi is mentioned in the text and thus listed in the index), and the bibliography is limited only to specific works cited (by short-title reference) in the notes.