Gluck and the French Theatre in Vienna

Download or read book Gluck and the French Theatre in Vienna written by Bruce Alan Brown and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1991 with total page 564 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this richly illustrated study, the Viennese reform of opera and ballet is placed in the context of Christoph Gluck's decade-long involvement with the city's first French theatre, established in 1752. Following a detailed examination of the institutional and cultural frameworks of theatrical life in Maria Theresia's capital (drawing upon important new documentary sources), and of the interaction between Parisian and Viennese repertories, each of the areas of Gluck's activity in the Burgtheater--concerts, opera-comique, and ballet--and their products are examined in turn. Such masterworks as Orfeo ed Euridice and Don Juan are shown to be intimately connected with the regular musical repertory of the French theatre, which was itself rich in innovation; in addition, a large number of works by Gluck (and his colleagues) are identified and analyzed here for the first time.