Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)
- Concerto (G-Dur) pour flute et orchestre, ICG 17
Performers: Camillo Wanausek (1906-1999, flute); Pro Musica Orchestra, Vienna;
Michael Gielen (1927-2019, conductor)
---
German composer. Although little is known about his youth, Gluck
reported that he came from a musical family; his father, a forester, was
adept at various instruments. In 1731 he attended Prague University
studying logic and mathematics before moving to Italy to study music
under Giovanni Battista Sammartini in Milan. His first opera, Artaserse,
was performed there in 1741, followed by Demetrio in Venice a year
later. Thereafter, he composed works throughout Italy before moving to
London in 1746. Despite disparaging remarks by George Frederick Handel,
he achieved some success there, and joined the Mingotti troupe as their
Kapellmeister. He toured with them for several years until 1750, when he
married the daughter of a wealthy Viennese merchant, thus allowing him
economic stability. He then began to write operas for both Prague and
Vienna, the latter beginning in 1754 with Le cinesi. In 1756 he was
invested as a Knight of the Golden Spur by Pope Benedict XIV, thus
allowing himself to be known by the title Chevalier von Gluck. By 1758
he had turned toward the opéra comique, beginning with La fausse
esclave. During this period he also became acquainted with the director
of the opera, Count Giacomo Durazzo, choreographers Gasparo Angiolini
and Franz Hilverding, as well as librettist Raniero Calzabigi.
Discussions on the dramatic ballet led to the 1761 premiere of Don Juan,
followed the next year by the opera Orfeo ed Euridice, leading to an
important work, Alceste, of 1767, which contains a seminal preface
describing the concept of opera reform. In 1774 Gluck was called to
Paris around the same time as he was named hofKapellmeister in Vienna.
Here he produced a series of operas ranging from French revisions of his
Viennese works to original pieces such as Iphigénie en Aulide and
Armide. This led to the revival of the French opera, as well as a
controversy when the Théâtre Italien brought Neapolitan composer Niccolò
Piccinni to Paris to foment a rivalry similar to the Querelle des
bouffons two decades earlier. In 1779 Gluck returned to Vienna following
a stroke that occurred during his final opera, Écho et Narcisse. A
German opera, Hunnenschlacht, remained fragmentary, and a further
Parisian commission, Les Danïades, was given over to Gluck’s pupil
Antonio Salieri. Gluck wrote over 50 operas, ranging from opera seria to
opéra comique, as well as numerous additions to pasticcios, at least 40
ballets, ranging from divertissements to ballets d’action, 12 Lieder,
nine symphonies, eight trio sonatas, four Psalms/sacred works, and a
number of miscellaneous works. Gluck can be considered a seminal figure
in the development and reform of opera in the Classical period. His
influence ranged from Italy to Scandinavia and from Russia to France;
moreover, he wrote in virtually all of the styles of opera of the
period, as well as being a major contributor to the development of the
18th-century ballet. Of particular note is his ability to orchestrate
his operas, using timbre effectively to create dramatic moments. His
works bear Wq (Wotquenne) numbers.
Cap comentari:
Publica un comentari a l'entrada