Alceste is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck. The libretto was written by Ranieri de Calzabigi (in Italian) and based on the play Alcestis by Euripides.
When Calzabigi published Alceste, he added a preface signed by Gluck, which set out their ideals for operatic reform. The opera displays the features set out in this manifesto, namely:
Alceste also has no role for the castrato voice, although Gluck would return to using a castrato in his next...
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Alceste is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck. The libretto was written by Ranieri de Calzabigi (in Italian) and based on the play Alcestis by Euripides.
When Calzabigi published Alceste, he added a preface signed by Gluck, which set out their ideals for operatic reform. The opera displays the features set out in this manifesto, namely:
Alceste also has no role for the castrato voice, although Gluck would return to using a castrato in his next opera, Paride ed Elena.
The second of Gluck's so-called "reform operas" (after Orfeo ed Euridice), it was first performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 26 December 1767. A heavily revised version with a French libretto by Leblanc du Roullet premiered in Paris on 23 April 1776. The opera is usually given in the revised version, although this is sometimes translated into Italian. Both versions are in three acts.
Maria Callas starred as Alceste in an aclaimed production at La Scala in 1954. It was her first collaboration in a stage performance...
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