Christoph Willibald Gluck
Born: 2nd July 1714, Berching, Germany
Died: 15th November 1787, Vienna
Nationality: German
Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck 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 at the time, he gained prominence at the Habsburg court in 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.
Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph_Willibald_Gluck
Browse: Gluck
Further Reading: Gluck
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Jakub Józef Orliński on Gluck's Orfeo
4th Jul 2024
The Polish countertenor discusses recording 'one of the signature-roles' for his voice-type, how going to hell and back in two contrasting productions of the opera informed his interpretation in the studio, and why acting as co-artistic director on the recording taught him to 'read the room'...
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Philippe Jaroussky sings Gluck's Orfeo
25th May 2018
The French countertenor placates the Furies with singing of celestial purity on this world premiere recording of the 1774 Neapolitan version of Gluck's most popular opera.
All Genres: Gluck
Orchestral
Chamber
Opera
Ballet
Concertos
Popular Works: Gluck
- Adieu, conservez dans votre âme (from Iphigénie en Aulide) (3)
- Ah! Si la liberté me doit être ravie (from Armide) (5)
- Ahimè! Dove trascorsi? (from Orfeo) (3)
- Alceste (17)
- Alceste: Overture (16)
- Berenice, che fai?...Perché, se tanti siete (from Antigono) (3)
- Che faro' senza Euridice? (from Orfeo ed Euridice) (62)
- Che fiero momento (from Orfeo et Euridice) (6)
- Che puro ciel (Orfeo ed Euridice) (14)
- Dieux puissants que j'atteste… Jupiter, lance la foudre (from Iphigénie en Aulide) (5)
- Dieux qui me poursuivez (from Iphigénie en Tauride) (5)
- Divinité des grandes âmes (from Iphigénie en Tauride) (3)
- Divinités du Styx (from Alceste) (21)
- Don Juan (13)
- Enfin, il est en ma puissance (from Armide) (4)
- Ezio (4)
- Grands dieux soutenez mon courage… Ah ! Divinités implacables (from Alceste) (5)
- Iphigénie en Aulide (9)
- Iphigénie en Aulide: Overture (25)
- Iphigénie en Tauride (21)
- J'ai perdu mon Eurydice (from Orphée et Eurydice) (38)
- Je cède à vos désirs - D'une image, hélas! trop chérie (from Iphigénie en Tauride) (4)
- Le belle immagini d'un dolce amore (from Paride ed Elena) (5)
- Misera, dove son...Ah! non son io (from Ezio) (3)
- Non, cet affreux devoir... Je t'implore et je tremble (from Iphigénie en Tauride) (5)
- Non, je n'espere plus... O toi qui prolongeas mes jours (from Iphigénie en Tauride) (5)
- O del mio dolce ardor (from Paride ed Elena) (34)
- O malheureuse Iphigenie! (from Iphigénie en Tauride) (10)
- Ô moments délicieux!...Bannis les craintes et les alarmes (from Alceste) (3)
- Orfeo ed Euridice (46)
- Orfeo ed Euridice - Dance of the Furies (7)
- Orfeo ed Euridice: Mélodie (28)
- Orfeo ed Euridice: Overture (6)
- Orphée et Euridice: Dance of the Blessed Spirits (135)
- Orphée et Euridice: Menuet & Dance of the Blessed Spirits (4)
- Orphée et Eurydice (21)
- Paride ed Elena (3)
- Qu'entends-je? Qu'a-t-il dit?... Amour, viens rendre a mon ame (from Orphée et Eurydice, after Bertini) (6)
- Qual vita è questa mai...Che fiero momento (from Orfeo ed Euridice) (4)
- Se mai senti spirarti sul volto (from La clemenza di Tito) (7)
Recent Best Sellers: Gluck
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Special offer. Gluck Arias
Ann Hallenberg (mezzo-soprano), The Mozartists, Ian Page
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International Opera Awards, 2025, Winner - Solo Recording
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Gramophone Awards, 2026 Winner, Voice & Ensemble
CD: Original price $17.25 Reduced $13.80Download from $10.00 -
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Special offer. The Vienna Recital
Yuja Wang (piano)
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2024, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, August 2024, Insturmental Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2024
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Solo Instrument
CD: Original price $17.50 Reduced $15.75Download from $10.75 -
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Enfers
Stéphane Degout (baritone) Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
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Presto Editor's Choice, March 2018
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2018, Editor's Choice
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Record Review, 24th February 2018, Recording of the Week
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2018
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The Times Records of the Year, 2018
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2019, Finalist - Vocal
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International Opera Awards, 2019, Winner - Recital Album
CD: $14.75Download from $12.75 -
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New. Gramophone Awards 2026 Sampler
Flore Van Meerssche, Isabelle Faust (violin), Gabriele Lombardi, Monica Piccinini, Maria Chiara Gallo, Andrés Montilla, Raffaele Giordani, Jean Rondeau (harpsichord), Fleur Barron (mezzo-soprano), Axelle Fanyo (soprano), Nicholas Phan (tenor), Bertrand Chamayou (piano), Leif Ove Andsnes (piano), Adèle Charvet (mezzo-soprano), Florian Caroubi, Ann Hallenberg (mezzo-soprano), Alexander Melnikov (piano), Imogen Cooper (piano), Lea Desandre (soprano), Alex Rosen (bass-baritone), Jess Dandy (contralto), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Thomas Dunford (lute), Alexander Malofeev (piano), Pavel Haas Quartet, Capella Sollertia, Les Siècles, Concerto Italiano, San Francisco Symphony Chorus, San Francisco Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Mozartists, Jupiter, Johanna Soller, François-Xavier Roth, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sakari Oramo, Ian Page
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New Releases: Gluck
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New. Amour
Esther Abrami (violin), City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Irene Delgado-Jiménez
CD: $16.25Download from $14.00 -
New. Karl Richter: The Complete Teldec & Ducretet-Thomson Recordings
Karl Richter
18 CDs: Original price $63.75 Reduced $57.37 -
New. Le Violon Roi 2
Renaud Capuçon (violin), Khatia Buniatishvili (piano), Bertrand Chamayou (piano), Edgar Moreau (cello), Guillaume Bellom (piano), Nolwenn Leroy (vocals), Nicholas Angelich (piano), David Fray (piano), Lahav Shani (piano), Kian Soltani (cello), Gautier Capuçon (cello), Frank Braley (piano), Brussels Philharmonic, Les Siècles, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Quatuor Ebène, London Symphony Orchestra, Stéphane Denève, Duncan Ward, Daniel Harding, Sir Simon Rattle
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New. Mirage (Extended)
Marc André (double bass), Véronique Teruel (piano), Gabriel Bianco (guitar)
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Future Releases: Gluck
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Coming soon. Le hautbois révolutionnaire
Christopher Palameta (oboe), Notturna
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Coming soon. Operatic Recital
Zenaida Pally (vocalist), Garbis Zobian (vocalist), Nicolae Teofănescu (vocalist), Prague National Theatre Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Romanian Cinematography Symphony Orchestra, Romanian National Opera Choir, Václav Kašlík, Jaroslav Vogel, Edgar Cosma
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Coming soon. Thomas Jensen Legacy Vol. 25
Birthe Hansen (soloist), Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Jensen
5 CDs: $36.50Download from $16.00
