Alceste (Gluck) - Performance History

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.

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).