Alceste (Gluck) - Preface and Reforms

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.