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• Personalities
• Classical Era
• Opera

1739–93, French The French tenor and composer Joseph Legros made his debut at the Opéra in Paris, singing Titon in Titon et Aurore by Jean-Joseph Mondonville (1711–72). Subsequently he built up a considerable repertoire of roles in operas by Lully, Rameau, Grétry and Gluck, among others. One of his greatest roles was as Gluck’s Orpheus – ...

• Major Operas
• Classical Era
• Opera

‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ When the Emperor Franz I and his retinue attended the premiere of Orfeo ed Euridice at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 5 October 1762, they were doubtless expecting a lightweight pastoral entertainment. The occasion – the emperor’s name day – and the opera’s billing as an azione teatrale (literally ‘theatrical action’) promised as much. What they got ...

• Personalities
• Classical Era
• Opera

opera was not in doubt: his opera seria style was more realistic and less stereotyped than that found in contemporary works. Introduction | Classical Era | Opera Personalities | Joseph Legros | Classical Era | Opera ...

• Stage & Scene
• Classical Era
• Opera

roles for two confidants (Evandro and Ismene) and stretches of ‘dry’ recitative, while for the French Orphée he pandered to the ‘misguided vanity’ of the star tenor, Joseph Legros, and gave him a brilliant coloratura showpiece to end the first act. Stage & Scene | Mastery of Stage Design: Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri | Early Romantic | Opera ...

• Styles & Forms
• Classical
• Classical Era

Developments in philosophy during the early decades of the eighteenth century saw rationalist and humanist ideals displacing mysticism in a new age of ‘Enlightenment’. By the middle of the century, principles of natural order and balance were being explored in the arts. Composers attempted to give a clear sense of where their music was going in terms of themes and ...