When was christoph willibald gluck born

His influential reforms included reducing the amount of repetition in an aria and trying to make the sung words more intelligible to the audience 4. Cookies We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. However you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.

Set your cookie preferences Accept All Cookies Reject all non-essential cookies. Manage consent. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website.

These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Gluck and Calzabigi collaborated on three operas. Their first collaboration was Orfeo ed Euridice, produced in Vienna in They severely modified the legendary tale and abandoned the traditional "dry" recitative; the opera is one of great simplicity and directness in which nothing extraneous hinders the presentation of the drama.

Calzabigi and Gluck thus opened the way for the possibilities for reform of the old-fashioned Italian opera seria. Their second collaborative effort, Alceste, modeled on the Euripides drama, premiered in in Vienna. Three years later Paride ed Elena, their last collaboration, was produced in Vienna. In Gluck was at the height of his fame. Du Roullet's drama proved to be the means which brought Gluck to France. In he agreed to compose several French operas and moved to Paris at the instigation of his former pupil, Marie Antoinette, to supervise the productions.

In , as an act of homage to the memory of Jean Baptiste Lully and as a diplomatic gesture to French sensitivities, Gluck undertook to compose an opera based on Philippe Quinault's drama Armide, which had already been composed by Lully. He retired from public life that year and returned to Vienna, where, following a stroke, he died on Nov. In these works, Gluck reacted against the stylization and conventions of baroque opera.

In the s he became much interested in the French opera of Lully and Rameau, whose works he studied closely, and began writing new operas as well as revising several of his Italian works for the Parisian court and stage.

Gluck had musical interests from an early age, playing the violin and cello and singing. Christoph Willibald Gluck was the epitome of the 18th-century composer, working at the service of any court that might employ him, and writing music that was never less than well-mannered. But he was also that rare thing, an artist who managed to absorb and transcend the spirit of his age. Gluck was born in what is now Bavaria.