Alceste (Gluck)
| Christoph Willibald Gluck |
|---|
 |
|
Operas
|
Alceste 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 in Vienna.
Contents |
[edit] Preface and reforms
When Calzabigi published Alceste, he added a preface signed by Gluck, which set out their ideals for operatic reform. The opera displays the features set out in this manifesto, namely:
- no da capo arias
- little or no opportunity for vocal improvisation or virtuosic displays of vocal agility or power
- no long melismas
- a more predominantly syllabic setting of the text to make the words more intelligible
- far less repetition of text within an aria
- a blurring of the distinction between recitative and aria, declamatory and lyrical passages, with altogether less recitative
- accompanied rather than secco recitative
- simpler, more flowing melodic lines
- an overture that is linked by theme or mood to the ensuing action
- more prominence for the chorus, giving it, in imitation of classical Greek drama, an important role commenting on the events unfolding on the stage.
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.[1]
[edit] Performance history
The second of Gluck's so-called "reform operas" (after Orfeo ed Euridice), it was first performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 26 December 1767. A heavily revised version with a French libretto by Leblanc du Roullet premiered in Paris on 23 April 1776. The opera is usually given in the revised version, although this is sometimes translated into Italian. Both versions are in three acts.
Maria Callas starred as Alceste in an acclaimed production at La Scala in 1954. It was her first collaboration in a stage performance with director Luchino Visconti. A recording of the performance survives which shows the level of accomplishment achieved with the production.
The Metropolitan Opera has presented Alceste in three different seasons, with four sopranos starring in a total of eighteen performances. The Met premiere of the opera, on January 24, 1941, featured Marjorie Lawrence. There were four more performances that season, two starring Lawrence and two starring Rose Bampton. In the 1951-52 season, wagnerian soprano Kirsten Flagstad sang Alceste in five performances, including her farewell performance with the company on April 1, 1952. On December 6, 1960, Eileen Farrell made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Alceste. She sang the role a total of eight times that season. Her final performance of the role, on February 11, 1961, marks the last time to date that the opera has been performed at the Met.
The Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its 1990 season with a performance of Alceste starring Jessye Norman, while Catherine Naglestad appeared in ten performances of Alceste with the Stuttgart State Opera between January and March 2006. It was given by the Santa Fe Opera as part of its summer festival season in August 2009 with Christine Brewer in the title role.[2]
The first UK performance took place at the King's Theatre, London in 1795. More recent productions have included those in Scotland at Ledlanet (1972) and by Scottish Opera (1974).
[edit] Roles
| Original version Role |
Revised version Role |
Voice type | Original version Premiere cast Vienna, 1767[3] (conductor: - ) |
Revised version Premiere cast Paris, 1776 (conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alceste (Alcestis), Queen of Pherae in Thessaly | Alceste, Queen of Thessaly | soprano | Antonia Bernasconi | Rosalie Levasseur |
| Admeto (Admetus), her husband | Admète, her husband | tenor | Giuseppe Tibaldi | Joseph Le Gros |
| Eumelo and Aspasia, their children |
Their two children (silent characters) |
trebles (1767) | ||
| Evandro (Evander), a confidant of Admetus | Evandre, leader of the Pherae people | tenor | Antonio Pilloni[4] | Thirot (o Tirot) |
| Ismene, a confidante of Alcestis |
|
soprano | Teresa Eberardi |
|
| High Priest of Apollo | High Priest | baritone | Filippo Laschi | Nicolas Gélin |
|
|
Hercule (Hercules) | baritone |
|
Henri Larrivée |
| Apollo | Apollon (Apollo), protector of the house of Admetus | baritone | Filippo Laschi | Jean-Pierre (?) Moreau[5] |
| Infernal deity | Thanathos, an infernal deity | bass | ||
|
|
Choryphaei (chorus leaders) | soprano, contralto, baritone, bass |
|
|
| Oracle | bass | |||
| Herald | baritone | Domenico Poggi | ||
| 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 | ||||
[edit] Synopsis
.jpg)
- Place: Classical Pherae, Thessaly [6]
[edit] Act 1
King Admetus is dying. Alcestis pleads with Apollo for his life. The High Priest announces that Admetus may be spared if someone else takes his place. Alcestis offers herself in his place.
[edit] Act 2
Admetus has recovered. He realizes, however, that Alcestis has sacrificed herself for him. He proclaims that he cannot live without her, either. But the sacrifice has been made, and she descends to Hades.
[edit] Act 3
While the people mourn Alcestis, Hercules learns of her sacrifice and promises to bring her back from Hades. Meanwhile, Admetus offers to take her place, but she refuses. Hercules appears and fights his way to reach Alcestis. Apollo, impressed by the love of Admetus and Alcestis and the valor of Hercules, allows them all to live, and the people rejoice.
[edit] Recordings
- Alceste (Original Italian version edited by Geraint Jones), Kirsten Flagstad, Raoul Jobin, Alexander Young, Marion Lowe, Thomas Hemsley, Joan Clark, Rosemary Thayer, Geraint Jones Orchestra and singers, Geraint Jones (Decca LP LXT 5273-5276;. c. 1952)
- Alceste with conductor Serge Baudo and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Released on CD in 1995 on the Orfeo label. Cast includes: Jessye Norman, Nicolai Gedda, Peter Lika, Robert Gambill, Roland Bracht, Kurt Rydl, and Bernd Weikl.
- Alceste (Vienna version) Ringholz/Lavender?Degerfeldt/Treichl, Drottningholm Theatre Chorus and Orchestra, Arnold Östman (Naxos, 1999)
- Alceste with conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Monteverdi Choir. Released on CD and DVD on the Philips label in 2002. Cast includes Anne Sofie von Otter, Dietrich Henschel, Paul Groves, Yann Beuron, Joanne Lunn, Katherine Fuge, Nicolas Teste, and Ludovic Tezier among others.
- Alceste with conductor Charles Mackerras and Royal Opera at Covent Garden. Released on CD on the Ponto label in 2005. Cast includes: Elaine Mary Hall, Janet Baker, Janice Hooper-Roe, John Shirley-Quirk, Jonathan Summers, Mark Curtis, Matthew Best, Philip Gelling, and Robert Tear among others.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Hayes, p. 62. Millico, Gluck's favourite singer and intimate friend, was also the first performer of Paris, and for him the composer had already transposed up the originally contralto role of Orfeo in the first Italian performance of Orfeo ed Euridice, at Parma in 1769 (cf.: Orfeo ed Euridice#Revised versions)
- ^ Craig Smith, "Lustrous music saves Alceste", The Santa Fe New Mexican, 3 August 2009 from santafenewmexican.com
- ^ Roles and premiere cast in part from The New Kobbés Opera Book (1997), Earl of Harewood and Antony Peattie, eds. (G.P. Putnam's Sons: New York).
- ^ according to the Amadeusonline Almanach by Gherardo Casaglia, "Pulini"
- ^ this singer is usually reported solely under his surname; the alleged first name of Jean-Pierre is given only by the Amadeusonline Almanach by Gherardo Casaglia
- ^ Woodstra, Chris; Brennan, Gerald; Schrott, Allen (September 2005), All Music Guide to Classical Music, Backbeat Books, p. 505, ISBN 0-87930-865-6
[edit] References
- Hayes, Jeremy, "Alceste (ii) ('Alcestis')", in Sadie, Stanley (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997, I, pp. 62-70, ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2
- (Italian) Dizionario dell'opera, in "del Teatro" (online magazine), Baldini Castoldi Dalai
