Daily Hub
Christoph Willibald Gluck

Person · Male

Christoph Willibald Gluck

composer

From
Berching, Germany
Active
1714–1787
Rating
★ 5 (1 votes)
Releases
146
  • classical
  • classical period

About

Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck (; German: [ˈkʁɪstɔf ˈvɪlɪbalt ˈɡlʊk]; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) 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. His later operas have half the length of a typical baroque opera.

Read more

The strong influence of French opera encouraged Gluck to move to Paris in November 1773. Fusing the traditions of Italian opera and the French (with rich chorus) into a unique synthesis, Gluck wrote eight operas for the Parisian stage. Iphigénie en Tauride (1779) was a great success and is often considered to be his finest work. Though he was extremely popular and widely credited with bringing about a revolution in French opera, Gluck's mastery of the Parisian operatic scene was never absolute. After the poor reception of his Echo et Narcisse (1779), he left Paris in disgust and returned to Vienna to live out the remainder of his life.

From Christoph Willibald Gluck on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Discography

Albums 110

Showing 60 of 110. See them all on MusicBrainz

Singles 2
Live 12
Compilations 22

Links

Listen

Reference

Teacher

Also known as

C. W. Gluck · CW Gluck · Chr.W. van Gluck · Christop Willibald Gluck · Christoph Gluck · Christoph Willibald Gluk · Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck · Christoph Willibald von Gluck · Christopher Gluck · Christph Willibald Gluck · Gluck · Gluck, Christoph W. · Gluck, Christoph Willibald · Glück · Kristofs Vilibalds Gluks · グルック

Tags

  • composer
  • german composer

Identifiers

ISNI
0000000121283626
IPI
00012069031

Data from MusicBrainz, saved 12 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.