Alceste, Wq. 37 (the later French version is Wq. 44), is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck from 1767. The libretto (in Italian) was written by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and based on the play Alcestis by Euripides. The premiere took place on 26 December 1767 at the Burgtheater in Vienna.
When Gluck published the score of Alceste in Vienna in 1769, he added a famous preface in Italian almost certainly written by Calzabigi, which set out their ideals for operatic reform, [1] whose programmatic points follow those exposed by Francesco Algarotti in his Saggio sopra l'opera in musica (Essay on opera in music, 1755), 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 , and even rewrite the tenor role of Admetus for the soprano castrato Giuseppe Millico, in the 1770 revival of Alceste in Vienna. [2]
Gluck recomposed and lengthened Alceste to a French libretto by François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet for performances at the Paris Opera, retaining the three-act structure. Hercules was added as a pivotal character in Act III, as was a scene at the Gates of Hell. The premiere took place on 23 April 1776 in the second Salle du Palais-Royal.
With the presentations in Paris, Alceste became an essentially new work, the translation from Italian to French necessitating several changes in the musical declamation of text, and certain scenes significantly reorganized to new or altered music. Some of the changes were made upon the advice of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of Gluck's greatest French admirers, but the bulk of the adaptation was the work of French aristocrat Du Roullet, with improvements by the composer.[ citation needed ]
Gluck fought several efforts to make the new version of Alceste conform to French tastes, resisting pressure to end the opera with an extended ballet. The new libretto does, however, introduce several subsidiary characters for dramatic variety, and, following the example of Euripides, on whose work the libretto is loosely based, even calls in Hercules in the final act. [3] Berlioz made adjustments to the opera for a staging in 1861 that starred Pauline Viardot at the Paris Opéra. This was remounted, with further rearrangements, in 1866, starring Marie Battu. [4] [5]
The first British performance, which was sung in Italian, took place at the King's Theatre, London on 30 April 1795, starring Brigida Banti. [6] The work was given in French during the Coronation Season of 1937 at the Royal Opera House, conducted by Philippe Gaubert with Germaine Lubin as Alceste. [7] More recent productions in Britain have included those at the Glyndebourne Festival conducted by Vittorio Gui, with Magda Laszlo (1953 and 1954) and Consuelo Rubio (1958) as Alceste; [8] by Scottish Opera in 1974, conducted by Alexander Gibson with the title role shared between Júlia Várady and Ann Murray; [9] and by the Royal Opera in 1981, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, with Janet Baker in the title role. [7]
In 1954, Carlo Maria Giulini conducted Alceste at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, with Maria Callas in the title role. The opera was sung in Italian. [7] Subsequent productions there were conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni (1972) and Riccardo Muti (1987) with the title role sung by Leyla Gencer and Rosalind Plowright, respectively. [10] In 2015 the opera was given for the first time by the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi, in its unabridged Italian version, also including the parts that Gluck himself had cut at the Vienna premiere out of practical necessities. [11]
The Metropolitan Opera gave Alceste in three different seasons, with four sopranos starring in eighteen performances. Its premiere on 24 January 1941, sung in French, featured Marjorie Lawrence. [7] There were four more performances that season, two starring Lawrence and two Rose Bampton. [12] In 1952 the opera was given in English, with Kirsten Flagstad in the title role. [7] On 6 December 1960 Eileen Farrell made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Alceste, also in English. She sang the role eight times that season, and her last performance, on 11 February, remains the last time Alceste was seen at the Met. [12]
Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its 1990 season with performances conducted by Gary Bertini with Jessye Norman as Alceste. [13] Catherine Naglestad appeared in ten performances with the Stuttgart State Opera in 2006, and this production was filmed. Alceste was given by Santa Fe Opera in August 2009 with Christine Brewer in the title role. [14] A production at the Teatro Real Madrid in 2014, conducted by Ivor Bolton, featured Angela Denoke as Alceste; [15] the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, presented the work in 2019, conducted by Antonello Manacorda, with Dorothea Röschmann in the title role. [16]
Nowadays the opera is usually given in the Paris version musically, with the libretto sometimes back-translated into Italian.
In Don Giovanni , written in 1787, twenty years after Alceste and the year Gluck died Mozart used a similar chord progression, as well as texture and orchestration, for the Commendatore speaking to Don Giovanni in the garden scene that Gluck used for the line of the High Priest when saying that Alceste will die if no one takes her place.[ citation needed ] Hector Berlioz claimed that this section of Don Giovanni was "heavily in-inspired or rather plagiarized". [17] Berlioz discussed the authenticity of some of the arias. For example, when Gluck went to Vienna, an aria was added to act 3. Berlioz came to the conclusion that Gluck was under so much pressure that he let it happen. Berlioz notes Gluck added corrections during rehearsals, and misunderstandings in the score, due to what Berlioz calls Gluck's "happy-go-lucky" style of writing. [18]
| Original version Role | Revised version Role | Voice type [19] | Original version Premiere cast [20] Vienna, 1767 | Revised version Premiere cast [21] Paris, 1776 Conductor: – |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admeto (Admetus), King of Pherae in Thessaly | Admète, [22] King of Thessaly | tenor | Giuseppe Tibaldi | Joseph Legros |
| Alceste (Alcestis), his wife | Alceste, Admète's [22] wife | soprano | Antonia Bernasconi | Rosalie Levasseur |
| Eumelo and Aspasia, their children | Their two children | trebles (1767) silent characters (1776) | [roles cut at the premiere] | (not reported) |
| Evandro (Evander), a confidant of Admetus | Evandre, a leader of the Pherae people | tenor | Antonio Pulini | M. Tirot (o Thirot) |
| Ismene, a confidante of Alcestis | (no role) | soprano | Teresa Eberardi | (no role) |
| High Priest of Apollo | High Priest of Apollon | baritone or bass (1767) bass (1776) | Filippo Laschi | Nicolas Gélin |
| Apollo | Apollon (Apollo), protector of the house of Admetus | baritone or bass (1767) baritone (1776) | Filippo Laschi | M. Moreau |
| An infernal deity | An infernal god | bass | Domenico Poggi | M. De La Suze |
(no role) | Hercule (Hercules) [23] | bass | (no role) | Henri Larrivée [24] |
| An oracle | An oracle [25] | bass | Domenico Poggi | (not reported) |
| A town crier | A herald of arms [25] | bass | Domenico Poggi | (not reported) |
(no role) | Choryphaei (chorus leaders) | soprano, haute-contre, taille, bass | (no role) | (not reported) |
| Chorus (1767): courtiers, citizens, Alcestis's maids of honour, priests of Apollo, gods of the underworld | ||||
| Chorus (1776): officers of the palace, Alcestis's attendants, citizens of Pherae, infernal deities, priests and priestesses in the temple of Apollo. | ||||
Original version in Italian [26]
A herald announces to the people of Thessaly that King Admeto is gravely ill and that there is little hope. Evandro calls upon all to pray to the oracle at the temple of Apollo. Alceste joins them and asks Apollo for pity. The oracle says Admeto can be rescued if another voluntarily sacrifices his life. This causes great consternation. Alone, Alceste agonizes whether to give her life for that of her husband.
In a dense forest dedicated to the gods of the underworld, Ismene asks Alceste why she is leaving her husband and children. Alceste tells Ismene of her intentions. Meanwhile, Admeto has a miraculous recovery to the joy of all Thessaly. Evandro tells him that someone has apparently sacrificed himself for the king. When Alceste appears, he questions her until she confesses. The desperate king hurries into the temple to plead with the gods. However, Alceste says good-bye to the children.
The decision of the gods is not revoked. The people lament the approaching death of Alceste. Having said good-bye to Alceste, Admeto decides to follow her into death. Then the heavens open, Apollo descends and proclaims that the gods have given them their lives as a reward for their steadfast love.
Paris version [3]
The overture is stately, noble, and tragic, looking ahead to some of Mozart's minor-key works. The choir propels much of the action in the first two acts, and Gluck's vocal settings are particularly elegant, taking advantage of the French language's smooth rhythms, although the writing is rather static in its sad dignity.
King Admetus is dying, and his people are in despair. The god Apollo refuses their animal sacrifice, proclaiming that Admetus will live only if another person is sacrificed in his place. Queen Alceste believes she is the victim Apollo has in mind, but declares she will surrender her life only for love. (Aria: "Divinites du Styx")
The people celebrate the king's recovery. Admetus does not realize that Alceste has volunteered to die in his place, and his wife won't give herself up until the record is set straight. When he learns the truth, Admetus believes that Alceste is in effect abandoning him, and would prefer to die himself.
The people, sorrowing again, prepare the royal couple's children for sacrifice in their place. Admetus' friend Hercules arrives and promises to conquer death on his behalf, and travels to Hades. Meanwhile, Alceste has already arrived at the gates of hell; Admetus tries to dissuade her, but she is sacrificing herself for love, rather than as some heroic act. She dies, but Hercules rescues her—except that now Alceste seems nearly insane. Apollo arrives, promises Hercules immortality, and leaves Admetus and Alceste in a world that seems devoid of death. The work ends with a joyful chorus.
In Greek mythology, Admetus was a king of Pherae in Thessaly.
Alcestis or Alceste, was a princess in Greek mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her life story was told by pseudo-Apollodorus in his Bibliotheca, and a version of her death and return from the dead was also popularized in Euripides's tragedy Alcestis.
Christoph WillibaldGluck was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he gained prominence at the Habsburg court at Vienna. There he brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices for which many intellectuals had been campaigning. With a series of radical new works in the 1760s, among them Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste, he broke the stranglehold that Metastasian opera seria had enjoyed for much of the century. Gluck introduced more drama by using orchestral recitative and cutting the usually long da capo aria. His later operas have half the length of a typical baroque opera. Future composers like Mozart, Schubert, Berlioz and Wagner revered Gluck.
Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing. The piece was first performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 5 October 1762, in the presence of Empress Maria Theresa. Orfeo ed Euridice is the first of Gluck's "reform" operas, in which he attempted to replace the abstruse plots and overly complex music of opera seria with a "noble simplicity" in both the music and the drama.
Iphigénie en Tauride is a 1779 opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard.
La vestale is an opera composed by Gaspare Spontini to a French libretto by Étienne de Jouy. It takes the form of a tragédie lyrique in three acts. It was first performed on 15 December 1807 by the Académie Impériale de Musique at the Salle Montansier and is regarded as Spontini's masterpiece. The musical style shows the influence of Gluck and anticipates the works of Berlioz, Wagner, and French Grand opera.
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to about 1770. The term itself was rarely used at the time and only attained common usage once opera seria was becoming unfashionable and beginning to be viewed as something of a historical genre. The popular rival to opera seria was opera buffa, the 'comic' opera that took its cue from the improvisatory commedia dell'arte.
Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian-language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, based on a 1705 play by Crébillion père, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712. Mozart and Varesco were commissioned in 1780 by Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria for a court carnival. He probably chose the subject, though it may have been Mozart. The work premiered on 29 January 1781 at the Cuvilliés Theatre in Munich, Germany.
Alcestis is an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides. It was first produced at the City Dionysia festival in 438 BC. Euripides presented it as the final part of a tetralogy of unconnected plays in the competition of tragedies, for which he won second prize; this arrangement was exceptional, as the fourth part was normally a satyr play. Its ambiguous, tragicomic tone—which may be "cheerfully romantic" or "bitterly ironic"—has earned it the label of a "problem play." Alcestis is, possibly excepting the Rhesus, the oldest surviving work by Euripides, although at the time of its first performance he had been producing plays for 17 years.
Iphigénie en Aulide is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet and was based on Jean Racine's tragedy Iphigénie, itself based on the play Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides. It was premiered on 19 April 1774 by the Paris Opéra in the second Salle du Palais-Royal and revived in a slightly revised version the following year.
Paride ed Elena is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck. It is the third of Gluck's so-called reform operas for Vienna, following Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste, and the least often performed of the three. Like its predecessors, the libretto was written by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. The opera tells the story of the events between the Judgment of Paris and the flight of Paris and Helen to Troy. It was premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 3 November 1770.
Ferdinando Gasparo Bertoni was an Italian composer and organist.
Joseph Legros, often also spelt Le Gros, was a French singer and composer of the 18th century. He is best remembered for his association with the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck and is usually regarded as the most prominent haute-contre of his generation, though his acting is reputed to have been mediocre.
Vito Giuseppe Millico, called "Il Moscovita", was an Italian soprano castrato, composer, and music teacher of the 18th century who is best remembered for his performances in the operas of Christoph Willibald Gluck.
Ercole su'l Termodonte is a baroque Italian opera in three acts. In 1723, it became the sixteenth opera set to music by Antonio Vivaldi. Its catalogue number is RV 710. The libretto was written by Antonio Salvi. The opera was premiered on 23 January 1723 in Rome's Teatro Capranica. Due to a papal edict preventing women from appearing onstage in Rome, it premiered with castrati singing all the female roles. Vivaldi was both conductor and violin soloist.
Le feste d'Apollo is an operatic work by Christoph Willibald von Gluck, first performed at the Teatrino della Corte, Parma, Italy, on 24 August 1769 for the wedding celebrations of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma and Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria.
Admeto, re di Tessaglia is a three-act opera written for the Royal Academy of Music with music composed by George Frideric Handel to an Italian-language libretto prepared by Nicola Francesco Haym. The story is partly based on Euripides' Alcestis. The opera's first performance was at the Haymarket Theatre in London on 31 January 1727. The original cast included Faustina Bordoni as Alcestis and Francesca Cuzzoni as Antigona, as Admeto was the second of the five operas that Handel composed to feature specifically these two prime donne of the day.
The following discography for Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice is mainly based on the research of Giuseppe Rossi, which appeared in the programme notes to the performance of the work at the 70th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 2007, under the title "Discografia – Christoph Willibald Gluck – Orfeo ed Euridice ". Rossi's data has been checked against the sources referenced in the notes.
Antonia Bernasconi (1741–1803) was a German operatic soprano, appearing in opera houses in Vienna, Milan, Venice, Naples and London.
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