SEARCH RESULTS FOR: Alceste
1 of 1 Pages

Triumphantly premiered in Vienna’s Burgtheater on 26 December 1767, Alceste was the second of the three collaborations between Gluck and Calzabigi. Today it is probably more famous for the reforming manifesto of its preface than for its magnificent music. Like Orfeo, Alceste cultivates Gluck’s ideal of noble simplicity, with the whole opera based essentially on a single situation ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

Alceste, or the Triumph of Alcide’ Composed in 1674, Lully’s Alceste, ou le triomphe d’Alcide, a tragédie lyrique with a prologue and five acts, had a double link with ancient Greek culture. The libretto, by Philippe Quinault, was based on Alcestis, a tragedy by the ancient Greek dramatist Euripides that in turn derived ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

opera in Gluck’s ‘reform’ works. His greatest opera seria, Idomeneo, premiered in Munich on 29 January 1781, draws much from Gluck, especially the hieratic scenes of Alceste (another opera concerned with human sacrifice). Yet its harmonic daring, orchestral richness and lyrical expansiveness are entirely Mozart’s own. Combining the sophistication of maturity with the reckless abundance of ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

b. 1933 English mezzo-soprano Baker studied in London, and made her debut in Smetana’s The Secret in Oxford in 1956. She sang Handel roles early in her career, and made a particular impression as Purcell’s Dido, a role she recorded several times. At Covent Garden, where she first appeared as Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

1803, German The soprano Antonia Bernasconi was the step-daughter of the Italian composer Andrea Bernasconi, Kapellmeister at the Munich court, and created the title role in Gluck’s Alceste at its first performance in Vienna in 1767. Her father was in the service of the Duke of Württemberg, but after his death and her mother’s remarriage, Antonia ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

work in which all elements were allied to serve the drama and to appeal directly and powerfully to the audience’s emotions. It was followed up, in 1767, with Alceste, in which his and Calzabigi’s new dramatic principles were carried a stage further; both operas were immensely successful in Vienna, although a third, Paride ed Elena (1770), ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

Calzabigi. The French Connection Orfeo’s success prompted two further operas whose simple classical plots and close integration of solos, chorus and ballet consolidated Gluck’s and Calzabigi’s new dramatic principles: Alceste, and the less well-received Paride ed Elena (‘Paris and Helen’, 1770). Two years later Gluck was given an adaptation of Racine’s tragedy Iphigénie en Aulide (‘Iphigenia in Aulis’, 1774) ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

was using to beat time. The injury became gangrenous and he died on 22 March 1687. Operas 1672 Les fêtes de l’amour et de Bacchus 1673 Cadmus et Hermione 1674 Alceste, ou le triomphe d’Alcide 1675 Thésée 1676 Atys 1677 Isis 1678 Psyché 1679 Bellérophon 1680 Proserpine 1682 Persée 1683 Phaéton 1684 Amadis de Gaule 1685 Roland 1686 Armide 1686 ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

Tannhäuser for Deutsche Oper Berlin catapulted her into the international arena, yet her repertoire has remained eclectic. Some of her memorable performances include the title roles of Aida and Alceste, Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, Cassandra and Didon (Les Troyens), Judith in Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and Schoenberg’s half-spoken, half-sung monodrama Erwartung. Introduction | Modern Era | Opera ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

1714–95, Italian Calzabigi was best known for three libretti for Gluck – Orfeo ed Euridice, Alceste and Paride ed Elena, the last taking its eponymous characters, Paris and Helen, from the ancient Greek story of the Trojan War. In these libretti, Calzabigi moved away from the artificiality and limited conventions of opera seria, preferring ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

1749–1826, French For 10 years, between 1766 and 1775, Rosalie Levasseur, who appeared in cast lists as Mlle Rosalie, played minor roles, starting with Zäide in L’Europe galante by André Campra (1660–1744). In 1775, however, she caught the eye and the interest of the Austrian ambassador to Paris, Count Florimond Claude de ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

form of opera. Gluck and the Reform of Opera Gluck thought opera seria was too formal, its plots overly restrictive and its structure excessively regulated. In his prologue to Alceste (1767), which he may have written with the help of his librettist, Raniero de’ Calzabigi (1714–95), Gluck poured particular scorn on the prominence of arias and the chances they ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

perfect musical collaborator. Some of Gluck’s Italian stage works had already begun to integrate solos and chorus, but it was in his three Italian ‘reform’ operas – Orfeo, Alceste and Paride ed Elena – that broke most boldly with tradition. In the famous preface to Alceste, probably co-written with Calzabigi, the composer resolved to divest music of ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie
1 of 1 Pages

AUTHORITATIVE

An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...

CURATED

Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.

Rock, A Life Story

Rock, A Life Story

The ultimate story of a life of rock music, from the 1950s to the present day.

David Bowie

David Bowie

Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers his life, music, art and movies, with a sweep of incredible photographs.