Gluck the Reformer
But who actually reformed the opera?
Distinguished conductors repeat the stereotype about Gluck.
Conductor's William Christie & John Eliot Gardiner
feature in this documentary on the operas of Christoph Willibald Gluck and the
timely reforms to opera that they comprised.
[deutsche untertitel, sous-titres français, subtitles en
espanol]
I find most extras on DVDs to be pointless and/or self-indulgent,
this however I found reasonably interesting.
The forms of French and Italian opera contemporary with C.
W. Gluck are discussed and his Operas "Echo et Narcisse",
"Iphigénie en Tauride", "Orfeo ed Euridice", "Orphée
et Euridice" and "Alceste" all feature.
Features:
William Christie Interview
Rodney Gilfry interview
Juliette Galstian interview
John Eliot Gardiner interview
Claus Guth interview
***
Comment:
But who actually reformed the opera?
Distinguished conductors repeat the stereotype about Gluck.
Kometar:
Ali ko je zapravo reformisao operu?
Istaknuti dirigenti ponavljaju stereotip o Gluku.
Opera reform was performed by Tommaso Traetta (1727 – 1779)
To judge from the general stylistic influence in terms of
grand scenic effects, and from some specific musical borrowings, Traetta had
access in Parma to copies and reports of Rameau's operas. To their influence,
Traetta added some ingredients of his own, especially a feeling for dramatic
colour, in the shape of his melodies and his use of the orchestra. The result
was a combination of Italian, French and German elements, which even anticipate
the Sturm und Drang movement that was to flourish a few years later, further
North. The first fruit of this francophilia was the opera Traetta wrote in
1759. Ippolito ed Aricia owes a lot to Rameau's great tragédie lyrique of 1733,
Hippolyte et Aricie. But Traetta's is no mere translation of Rameau. Thomas Arne treats the text Pietro Metastasio
"Artaxerxes" (2 February 1762) similarly. Real modern opera
(non-baroque), we hear the future of Mozart, Haydn ...
Equipped with the highest degree of dramatic genius, full of
vigor in the expression of passionate feelings, daring in the modulations and
more inclined of the Italian musicians of his time to make use of the chromatic
harmony of the German school, Traetta seems to have conceived theater music
from the point of view from which Gluck arose a few years later, apart from the
diversity in the melodic tendencies which are more evident in the works of the
Italian composer. In the pathetic, Traetta sometimes reaches the sublime, as
can be seen in the air of Semiramide which was inserted in the Methode de chant
du conservatoire de Paris. Sometimes he forgot that the taste of his
compatriots then rejected these energetic accents, and that they preferred pure
melody to divide their attention between melody and harmony, but when he
perceived in his audience the fatigue of this attention, during the first
masses on stage, in which he sat at the harpsichord, he used to turn to the
spectators saying: "Gentlemen, take care of this step", and the
audience almost always applauded this naive expression of pride of the artist.
Ps. "take care of this step" overture Ippolito i Aricia 1759. Wolfganga Amadeusa Mozarta "Zauberflöte" The Magic Flute 1791. !
Reformu opere izveo je Tommaso Traetta (1727 - 1779) Ippolito i Aricia 1759. Sofonisba 1761.
Sudeći po opštem stilskom uticaju u pogledu grandioznih
scenskih efekata i nekih specifičnih muzičkih pozajmica, Traetta je u Parmi imao
pristup partiturama opera Ramoa. Traetta je dodao neke svoje sastojke, posebno osećaj
za dramatičnu boju, u obliku svojih melodija i upotrebe orkestra. Rezultat je
bila kombinacija italijanskih, francuskih i nemačkih elemenata, koji čak
predviđaju pokret Sturm und Drang koji će procvetati nekoliko godina kasnije,
dalje na severu. Prvi plod ove frankofilije bila je opera koju je Traetta
napisao 1759. godine. Ippolito i Aricia puno duguje Rameauovoj velikoj lirskoj
tragediji iz 1733. godine, Hippolite et Aricie. Ali Traetta nije puki prevod
Rameau-a. Opremljen najvišim stepenom dramatične genijalnosti, prepun
živahnosti u izražavanju strastvenih osećanja, odvažnosti u modulacijama i
skloniji italijanskim muzičarima svog vremena da iskoriste hromatsku harmoniju
nemačke škole, izgleda da je Traetta zamislio opersku muziku sa tačke gledišta
iz koje je Gluck nastao nekoliko godina kasnije, osim raznolikosti melodičnih
tendencija koje su vidljivije u delima italijanskog kompozitora. Patetično,
Traetta ponekad doseže uzvišeno, što se može videti u vazduhu Semiramide koji
je bio umetnut u parizki konzervatorij Methode de chant du. Ponekad je
zaboravio da je ukus njegovih sunarodnika odbacio te energične akcente i da su
više voleli da čista melodija podeli njihovu pažnju između melodije i
harmonije, ali kada je u svojoj publici opazio umor te pažnje svirajući čembalo, obraćao se gledaocima
rekavši: "Gospodo, pazite na ovaj korak", a publika je gotovo uvek
aplaudirala ovom naivnom izrazu ponosa umetnika.
Ps. "obratite pažnju" uvertira Ippolito i Aricia 1759. (uvodni taktovi) su se našli u Mocartovoj uvertiri za "Čarobnu frulu"!
Zoran Stokić
01. 06. 2020.
