Gluck and the Paris Opera

Gluck in Paris 1777.

It was November 1773 when the German composer Christoph Gluck arrived in Paris. He was a man with a mission and his presence certainly didn’t go unnoticed.

Gluck had studied composition with Sammartini in Milan, so was well schooled in the art of Italian opera. However, he also had a great interest in French opera as developed by Lully and Rameau, and his own operatic style was already a blend of both the Italian and French styles.

It wasn’t long before Gluck gained the patronage of Marie Antoinette, who had married the future French King, Louis XVI in 1770, and he soon had a contract with the Paris Opera to compose six new staged works.

As Gluck worked on these operas, his style further developed and changed. Rather than the lengthy Da Capo arias and formal dances of the earlier Baroque operas, his new operas were much shorter, focusing more on the human drama and passions, with the words and music being of equal importance. Thus, all elements of the music, dance and staging became subservient to the overriding drama.

Not only did Gluck’s operas change the fashion in Paris, but his new style was also to influence many who came after him including Mozart, Berlioz and Wagner. The overture which we will be playing during the Summer Term is from his opera “Iphegenie en Aulide”, which received its first performance in Paris on 19th April 1774. Joseph Boulogne “Chevalier de Saint-Georges”, (whose symphony we played in Autumn 2022), was in the audience. In the tradition of the time, the plot takes its inspiration from Greek mythology, with the action taking place during the Trojan War. It’s a story with no shortage of intrigue and suspense. As the overture is linked by theme and mood to the ensuing action, there is plenty within it for us to explore and enjoy.