Classification · German and Austrian area
1714 – 1787
Erasmus (Bavaria) - Vienna
Review
After training in Prague and Italy and composing Italian-style operas by half of Europe, Gluck was established in Vienna. There, along with the librettist Ranieri de 'Calzabigi, he undertook a profound reform of the opera: to eliminate the vocal excesses and to put the music at the service of drama.
Orpheus ed Euridice (1762) was the first fruit of this reform, and the preface of Alceste (1767) its manifesto. In Paris his French operas unleashed the famous «I want her.» between gluckists and Pickini supporters. Its influence reached Mozart, Berlioz and Wagner.
Main works
- Ballet Don Juan (1761)
- Orpheus ed Euridice (1762)
- Alceste (1767)
- Paride ed Elena (1770)
- Iphigénie in Aulide (1774)
- Armide (1777)
- Iphigénie in Tauride (1779)
