Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice is Gluck’s most famous opera. It is about a man named Orfeo, who loses his wife, Euridice and longs to bring her back. He goes to the gods, and the goddess of love, Amor, tells Orfeo that he can bring back his wife from where she is held in Hades. But he must first calm the spirits of the dead and refuse to look at her, or she will once again die. In front of the gates of Hades, Orfeo calms the spirits with his songs of sorrow, and finds Euridice. On their way back to earth, Euridice fears that Orfeo had lost his affections for her because he wouldn't look at her. Euridice appeals to him to remember his love for her, and when he looks at her, she dies. Then, Amor appears and gives Euridice back to Orfeo because of the troubles he went through, the two are pleased and give thanks to the gods.
Alceste
Alceste, is second to Gluck’s three reform operas, this version known to be much simpler and more human in contrast to the one written by Lully and Quinault. Gluck had collaborated with Ranieri de’ Calzabigi, with the choreography by Noverre. In the Opera, Admeto, king of Pherae in Thessaly, is on his deathbed. Alceste prays to Apollo, and he reveals that Admeto will die on that day, unless someone takes his place, Alceste offers herself. Admeto recovers, rejoined with his wife, who reveals the offer she has made in turn for his life. As Alceste dies, Admeto tries to kill himself, but reminded of his duties as king, he stays alive. Alceste appears above with Apollo, who allows her to return to her husband.
Paride ed Elena
Paride ed Elena is Gluck’s third and final reform opera for Vienna, also being the least performed of the three (with Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste). Paride is in Sparta, sacrificing to Venus and seeking, now with the encouragement of Erasto (Cupid) the love of Elena. Each are struck by each other’s beauty when Paride is called to meet with Elena at her royal palace. When asked to sing, Paride does so in praise of her beauty, admitting the purpose of his visit is to win her love. She rejects him. And in despair, Paride now pleads with her. Eventually, through the intervention of Erasto, Elena gives way. But Pallas Athene warns them of the sadness to come.
Giovanni Battista Sammartini
Giovanni Battista Sammartini was also a composer, and he had taught counterpoint composition to Gluck while Gluck was a chamber musician for the Melzi household in Milan. Sammartini had been on other composers as well as Gluck, such as Johann Christian Bach, and Luigi Boccherini. He lived his entire life in Milan and was that city’s most famous composer. Even though he wrote mostly Chamber music with only three operas and a few arias, he was still a great influence on Gluck.
Iphigenia en Aulide
In a Greek war against Troy, King Agamemnon of Mycenae gathers the Greek fleet in Aulis. But since he has offended the goddess Diana, she causes the wind to drop, becalming the war ships. Priest Calchas announces that Diana will not send any wind unless Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter, Iphigenia, to her.
Iphigenia’s soon to be husband Achilles opposes the plan to sacrifice her, but Agamemnon is torn. When war hungry citizens demand the sacrifice, Iphigenia accepts her fate. The goddess Diana transports Iphigenia to Tauris and releases her completely from her service, so Achilles and Iphigenia marry.
Echo et Narcisse
Gluck experienced his first stroke during one of the rehearsals of Echo et Narcisse. In Echo et Narcisse, Echo is loved by both Narcisse and Apollo. Apollo puts a spell on Narcisse so he falls in love with his own reflection. At Echo and Narcisse’s wedding, Echo suspects him of infidelity when she sees him gazing into the water of a fountain. Echo is near death, and Apollo brings Narcisse back to his senses in time to hear her death lamented. Now Narcisse feels great remorse and is about to kill himself when Echo returns with restored life. Echo et Narcisse was Gluck’s last opera that had gained no success, and was even a failure. Even after Gluck had revised the opera two more times, they either didn't make it through the entire opera, or it was never spoken of.
Maria Anna Bergin
Maria Anna Bergin was Gluck’s wife. Maria was 18, and the daughter of a wealthy merchant and banker; Gluck was an internationally known composer, and 36. It is not known how and where they met, but they certainly were in love. Though Gluck’s engagement to Maria was opposed by her father, because there was a rather substantial age difference between the two, and it was clear that Maria was going to inherit all of her father’s money. Gluck and Maria married on September 15th, 1750, and lived with Maria’s mother. The union was a happy one, Maria took a personal interest in all of Gluck's artistic plans and achievements. She remained devoted to Gluck until the end of his life.
Le Cinesi
Lisinga and her two friends, Tangia and Sivene, want to perform for Lisinga’s brother, Silango, after he has returned from Europe. To entertain him, they perform arias in contrasting styles. Lisinga sings a tragic scene as the character of Andromache. Silango and Sivene sing a pastoral duet as shepherdess and shepherd (the two have feelings for each other. Tangia, envious of Silango’s love for Sivene, sings a comic aria that pokes fun at a young Persian dandy, indirectly deriding Sivene. All of the characters then agree that each aria has its drawbacks, and the opera concludes with a ballet.
Painting
This is the “featured” painting of Gluck, titled Christoph Willibald Gluck. Featured meaning that members of the community have identified as one of the finest images in the English Wikipedia. This was painted by Joseph-Siffrein Duplessis, a French portrait painter, in 1775. The painting is now held on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.
Alexander Johannes
Gluck had very early manifested a love for music, but his parents were poor and could not afford the instruments or musical instruction. His father, Alexander Johannes, wanted him to become a forester like him and made every effort to make Gluck follow in his footsteps. As he got older, and his passion for music got stronger, Gluck made astounding progress and was able to play several instruments. Gluck later wrote “My whole being became obsessed with music and I left all thoughts of a forester’s life behind”.
http://www.greatmusicleaders.org/home/christoph_willibald_gluck
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