top of page
Vienna
The Blue Danube
Christoph Willibald Gluck & The Reform of Viennese Opera
Christoph Willibald Gluck was an opera composer who wrote compositions for almost all of the operatic genres of his time. He was born in Germany and after attending school he travelled to Milan, London, and Prague. In 1752, he won a position in Vienna under the employ of Prince Joseph Friedrich von Sachsen-Hildburghausen where he met his most important collaborator, the poet Ranieri Calzabigi. Together, Gluck and Calzabigi composed the opera Don Juan, which was the first of two reform operas that they composed. The opera was a success, and the revolutionary features included the “incorporation of chorus and ballet, the lack of virtuosic writing for the singers, and the greater integration of individual musical numbers”. These changes to the classical French and Italian style made Gluck famous within the music world and elevated the reputation of Vienna’s music scene throughout Europe.
The second reform opera that Gluck and Calzabigi composed together occurred after the death of the husband of Empress Maria Theresa called Alceste and outlines the ideas behind opera reform. In a preface to the published edition of the opera, he wrote “I endeavoured to reduce music to its proper function, that of seconding poetry by enforcing the expression of the sentiment, and the interest of the situations, without interrupting the action, or weakening it by superfluous ornament”. These revolutionary operas allowed Vienna to become a new centre for opera and gave Vienna their own style of opera.
Above is a portrait of Christoph Willibald Gluck
bottom of page