History of opera
Galant music and gluckian reform

In the second third of the 18th century some voices began to emerge critical of opera seria, which was considered stultified and too much geared to vocal flourishes. The first criticisms came from some writings such as Il teatro alla moda by Benedetto Marcello (1720) or Saggio sull'opera by Francesco Algarotti (1755). It was the time of the rococo, which in music gave the so-called galant music, calmer than the baroque, lighter and simpler, gentle, decorative, melodic and sentimental. The taste for contrast disappeared and the sonorous gradation was sought (crescendo, diminuendo). In the so-called Mannheim School, symphonic music developed, with the first large modern orchestra (40 instruments), an initiative of the elector Charles Theodore of Wittelsbach. Its main representative, Johann Stamitz, is considered the first conductor.

The main center of galant music was the Germanic area (Germany and Austria), where it is known as Empfindsamer Stil ("sentimental style"). In Germany, it had an early precedent in the late work of Telemann and Mattheson. Its main representative was Johann Christian Bach, probably the most gifted of Johann Sebastian Bach 's sons. He lived for a time in Italy, where he converted to Catholicism and married an opera singer, a fact that would undoubtedly influence him to approach a genre that neither his father nor his brothers had treated. With a great mastery of instrumental music, he combined the simplicity and clarity of Italian music with Germanic precision. He later settled in England, where he was director of the Theatre Royal in London. His work influenced Mozart, whom he even gave lessons to when the latter traveled to London at the age of eight. His works include: Artaserse (1760), Catone in Utica (1761), Alessandro nell'Indie (1762), Orione (1762), Lucio Silla (1775), La clemenza di Scipione (1778) and Amadis de Gaule (1779). Another exponent was Carl Heinrich Graun, chapel master to Frederick II of Prussia. His opera Cleopatra e Cesare opened the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin in 1742. King Frederick himself wrote the libretto for his opera Montezuma (1755). Generally, his operas followed the Italian style, influenced by Scarlatti. It is worth mentioning that Frederick II's sister, Wilhelmina of Prussia, was a composer of an opera (Argenore, 1740) and promoted the creation of the Markgräfliches Theater in Bayreuth.

In Austria, Florian Leopold Gassmann, of Czech origin, composed several operas – preferably buffas – for Empress Maria Theresa: L'amore artigiano (1767), La notte critica (1768), La contessina (1770), Il filosofo innamorato (1771), Le pescatrici (1771). Ignaz Holzbauer was one of the first Germanic composers to compose operas with recitative instead of dialogue, such as Günther von Schwarzburg (1776), a work admired by Mozart. The Czech Josef Mysliveček studied in Italy, where he premiered most of his works: Il Bellerofonte (1767), Demofoonte (1775), L'Olimpiade (1778).

In the Germanic sphere was the golden age of singspiel: in 1778, Joseph II renamed the French Theater in Vienna as Deutsches Nationaltheater (now Burgtheater) and dedicated it to this genre, which premiered with Die Bergknappen (The Miners), by Ignaz Umlauf. The most prominent composers of singspiel were Johann Adam Hiller (Der Teufel ist los, 1766; Der Jagd, 1770) and Georg Anton Benda (Der Dorfjahrmarkt, 1775; Romeo und Julie, 1776). Other exponents were: Karl von Ordonez (Diesmal hat der Mann den Willen, 1778), Johann André (Erwin und Elmire, 1775), Christian Gottlob Neefe (Adelheit von Veltheim, 1780), Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (Doktor und Apotheker, 1786), Anton Eberl (Die Marchande des Modes, 1787), Paul Wranitzky (Oberon, König der Elfen, 1789), Johann Friedrich Reichardt (Erwin und Elmire, 1790), Johann Baptist Schenk (Der Dorfbarbier, 1796) and Wenzel Müller (Die Teufelmühle, 1799).

In France, the galant style was already denoted in the work of Rameau and, more fully, in Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (Les Voyages de l'Amour, 1736; Daphnis et Chloé, 1747) and Jean-Joseph de Mondonville (Daphnis et Alcimadure, 1754).

In Italy, gallant music had less incidence, given the presence of the Venetian and Neapolitan schools. Even so, it is denoted in the work of Niccolò Piccinni, Domenico Scarlatti and Baldassare Galuppi, as well as in Pietro Domenico Paradisi (Alessandro in Persia, 1738; Le muse in gara, 1740; Fetonte 1747; La Forza d'amore, 1751), Giovanni Marco Rutini (I matrimoni in maschera, 1763; L'olandese in Italia, 1765), Felice Alessandri (Ezio, 1767; Adriano in Syria, 1779; Demofoonte, 1783) and Giovanni Battista Martini (Don Chisciotte, 1746).

During this period a reform in opera was introduced that pointed to a change of style that would culminate in classicism. Its architect was the Bohemian-Austrian composer Christoph Willibald Gluck. He studied in Milan, where he premiered in 1741 Artaserse, with a libretto by Metastasio. In 1745 he moved to London, where he unsuccessfully sought Händel's support; he therefore settled in Vienna the following year, until 1770, when he settled in Paris. Among the reforms introduced by Gluck were: preeminence of the plot over vocal improvisations, with more truthful characters; austere music, without ornamentation; limitation of recitatives, all with orchestral accompaniment; overture, choir and ballet are integrated into the action of the opera; abolition of the da capo in the arias; music at the service of the text, harmonizing both elements. On the other hand, as opposed to the concept of closed numbers of Italian opera, Gluck introduced the tableau ("tableau"), a scenic concept that turned each act into a dramatic-musical unit encompassing soloists, choir, ensembles and ballets, which formed an organic ensemble scene. This concept was especially developed in 19th-century French opera.

Among his works are: Orfeo ed Euridice (1762), Alceste (1767) and Paride ed Elena (1770), premiered in Vienna; and Iphigénie en Aulide (1774), Armide (1777), Iphigénie en Tauride (1779) and Écho et Narcisse (1779), premiered in Paris. His regular librettist was Raniero di Calzabigi. During his stay in France, the so-called quarrel of Gluckists and Piccinnists (1775–1779) arose between supporters of Gluck's reform and supporters of Italian opera. Gluck did not limit himself to his Reform-Opern (renewed opera), but made some comic works in the Italian style, such as L'ivrogne corrigé (The Corrected Beodle, 1760) and La rencontre imprévue (The Unforeseen Encounter, 1764).
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