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''Alceste'', Wq. 37 (the later French version is Wq. 44), 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 on 26 December 1767 at the Burgtheater in Vienna. ==Preface and reforms== When Gluck published the score of ''Alceste'' in 1769, he added a preface written by Calzabigi, which set out their ideals for operatic reform.〔An online English translation of the preface can be found in the theatre programme: Christoph Willibald Gluck, ''(Alceste )'', Wiener Staatsoper, Season 2012-1013, pp. 41-43.〕 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 ''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.〔Hayes, p. 62. For Millico, Gluck's favourite singer and intimate friend, 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.: ''Le feste d'Apollo'' and ''Orfeo ed Euridice#Revised versions'').〕 In 1774, while travelling through Paris, he was also called upon to perform in private the French version of ''Orphée et Eurydice'' (with Gluck himself at the harpsichord) before it was premiered at the Opéra.〔Patricia Howard (ed.), ''C.W. von Gluck: Orfeo'', Cambridge/New York/Melbourne, Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 71, ISBN 0-521-29664-1〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alceste (Gluck)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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