The message about the composer glitch is brief. Gluck's Paris Operas

GLITCH (Gluck) Christoph Willibald (1714-1787), German composer. Worked in Milan, Vienna, Paris. Gluck's opera reform, carried out in line with the aesthetics of classicism (noble simplicity, heroism), reflected new trends in the art of the Enlightenment. The idea of subordinating music to the laws of poetry and drama greatly influenced musical theater in the 19th and 20th centuries. Operas (over 40): "Orpheus and Eurydice" (1762), "Alceste" (1767), "Paris and Helen" (1770), "Iphigenia in Aulis" (1774), "Armide" (1777), "Iphigenia in Taurida" (1779).

GLITCH(Gluck) Christoph Willibald (Cavalier Gluck, Ritter von Gluck) (July 2, 1714, Erasbach, Bavaria - November 15, 1787, Vienna), German composer.

Becoming

Born into the family of a forester. Gluck's native language was Czech. At the age of 14 he left his family, wandered, earning money by playing the violin and singing, then in 1731 he entered the University of Prague. During his studies (1731-34) he served as a church organist. In 1735 he moved to Vienna, then to Milan, where he studied with the composer G. B. Sammartini (c. 1700-1775), one of the largest Italian representatives of early classicism.

In 1741, Gluck's first opera, Artaxerxes, was staged in Milan; this was followed by the premieres of several more operas in different cities of Italy. In 1845, Gluck received an order to compose two operas for London; in England he met G.F. In 1846-51 he worked in Hamburg, Dresden, Copenhagen, Naples, and Prague. In 1752 he settled in Vienna, where he took the position of concertmaster, then bandmaster at the court of Prince J. Saxe-Hildburghausen. In addition, he composed French comic operas for the imperial court theater and Italian operas for palace entertainment. In 1759, Gluck received an official position in the court theater and was soon awarded a royal pension.

Fruitful collaboration

Around 1761, Gluck began collaborating with the poet R. Calzabigi and choreographer G. Angiolini (1731-1803). In their first collaboration, the ballet Don Juan, they managed to achieve an amazing artistic unity all components of the performance. A year later, the opera "Orpheus and Eurydice" appeared (libretto by Calzabigi, dances choreographed by Angiolini) - the first and best of Gluck's so-called reform operas. In 1764, Gluck composed the French comic opera "An Unexpected Meeting, or Pilgrims from Mecca", and a year later - two more ballets. In 1767, the success of "Orpheus" was consolidated by the opera "Alceste", also with a libretto by Calzabigi, but with dances staged by another outstanding choreographer - J.-J. Noverra (1727-1810). The third reform opera, Paris and Helena (1770), had more modest success.

In Paris

In the early 1770s, Gluck decided to apply his innovative ideas to French opera. In 1774, Iphigenia in Aulis and Orpheus, the French version of Orpheus and Eurydice, were staged in Paris. Both works received an enthusiastic reception. Gluck's series of Parisian successes was continued by the French edition of Alceste (1776) and Armide (1777). The last work gave rise to a fierce controversy between the “Gluckists” and supporters of traditional Italian and French opera, which was personified by the talented composer of the Neapolitan school N. Piccinni, who came to Paris in 1776 at the invitation of Gluck’s opponents. Gluck's victory in this controversy was marked by the triumph of his opera “Iphigenia in Tauris” (1779) (however, the opera “Echo and Narcissus” staged in the same year failed). In the last years of his life, Gluck carried out the German edition of Iphigenia in Tauris and composed several songs. His last work was the psalm De profundis for choir and orchestra, which was performed under the direction of A. Salieri at Gluck’s funeral.

Gluck's contribution

In total, Gluck wrote about 40 operas - Italian and French, comic and serious, traditional and innovative. It was thanks to the latter that he secured a strong place in the history of music. The principles of Gluck's reform are set out in his preface to the publication of the score of Alceste (written, probably with the participation of Calzabigi). They boil down to the following: music must express the content of the poetic text; orchestral ritornellos and, especially, vocal embellishments, which only distract attention from the development of the drama, should be avoided; the overture should anticipate the content of the drama, and the orchestral accompaniment of the vocal parts should correspond to the nature of the text; in recitatives the vocal-declamatory beginning should be emphasized, that is, the contrast between the recitative and the aria should not be excessive. Most of these principles are embodied in the opera "Orpheus", where recitatives with orchestral accompaniment, arioso and arias are not separated from each other by sharp boundaries, and individual episodes, including dances and choruses, are combined into large scenes with end-to-end dramatic development. Unlike the plots of opera seria with their intricate intrigues, disguises and sidelines, the plot of "Orpheus" appeals to simple human feelings. In terms of skill, Gluck was noticeably inferior to his contemporaries such as C. F. E. Bach and J. Haydn, but his technique, for all its limitations, fully met his goals. His music combines simplicity and monumentality, unstoppable energy (as in the “Dance of the Furies” from Orpheus), pathos and sublime lyricism.

K.V. Gluck is a great opera composer who realized in the second half of the 18th century. reform of Italian opera seria and French lyric tragedy. The great mythological opera, which was experiencing an acute crisis, acquired in Gluck's work the qualities of a genuine musical tragedy, filled with strong passions, elevating the ethical ideals of fidelity, duty, and readiness for self-sacrifice. The appearance of the first reform opera "Orpheus" was preceded by long haul- the struggle for the right to become a musician, traveling, mastering various opera genres of that time. Gluck lived an amazing life, devoting himself entirely to musical theater.

Gluck was born into the family of a forester. The father considered the profession of a musician to be an unworthy occupation and in every possible way interfered with the musical hobbies of his eldest son. Therefore, while still a teenager, Gluck leaves home, wanders, dreams of getting a good education (by this time he graduated from the Jesuit college in Commotau). In 1731 Gluck entered the University of Prague. The student of the Faculty of Philosophy devoted a lot of time music lessons- took lessons from the famous Czech composer Boguslav of Montenegro, sang in the choir of the Church of St. Jacob. Wanderings in the vicinity of Prague (Gluck willingly played the violin and especially his favorite cello in traveling ensembles) helped him become more familiar with Czech folk music.

In 1735 Gluck, already established professional musician, travels to Vienna and enters service in the chapel of Count Lobkowitz. Soon, the Italian philanthropist A. Melzi offered Gluck the position of chamber musician in the court chapel in Milan. In Italy, Gluck's journey as an opera composer begins; he became acquainted with the work of the greatest Italian masters and studied composition under the guidance of G. Sammartini. The preparatory stage lasted for almost 5 years; It was only in December 1741 that Gluck’s first opera, Artaxerxes (libr. P. Metastasio), was successfully staged in Milan. Gluck received numerous orders from the theaters of Venice, Turin, Milan and over the course of four years created several more opera seria (Demetrius, Poro, Demophon, Hypermnestra, etc.), which brought him fame and recognition among a fairly sophisticated and demanding Italian public.

In 1745 the composer toured London. The oratorios of G. F. Handel made a strong impression on him. This sublime, monumental, heroic art became the most important creative reference point for Gluck. A stay in England, as well as performances with the Italian opera troupe of the Mingotti brothers in major European capitals (Dresden, Vienna, Prague, Copenhagen) enriched the composer’s stock of musical impressions, helped to establish interesting creative contacts, and become better acquainted with various opera schools. Recognition of Gluck's authority in the musical world was his awarding of the Papal Order of the Golden Spur. “Cavalier Gluck” - this title stuck with the composer. (Let us recall the wonderful short story by T. A. Hoffmann “Cavalier Gluck.”)

A new stage in the composer’s life and work begins with his move to Vienna (1752), where Gluck soon took up the post of conductor and composer of the court opera, and in 1774 received the title of “actual imperial and royal court composer.” Continuing to compose opera seria, Gluck also turned to new genres. French comic operas (“The Island of Merlin”, “The Imaginary Slave”, “The Corrected Drunkard”, “The Fooled Cadi”, etc.), written to the texts of famous French playwrights A. Lesage, C. Favard and J. Seden, enriched the composer’s style with new intonations, compositional techniques, responded to the needs of listeners in directly vital, democratic art. Gluck's work in the ballet genre is of great interest. In collaboration with the talented Viennese choreographer G. Angiolini, the pantomime ballet “Don Giovanni” was created. The novelty of this performance - a genuine choreographic drama - is determined largely by the nature of the plot: not traditionally fairy-tale, allegorical, but deeply tragic, acutely conflicting, touching on the eternal problems of human existence. (The ballet script was written based on the play by J. B. Moliere.)

The most important event in creative evolution composer and in the musical life of Vienna the premiere of the first reform opera appeared - “Orpheus” (1762), An ancient Greek myth about legendary singer Gluck and R. Calzabigi (author of libr., like-minded person and constant collaborator of the composer in Vienna) interpreted it in the spirit of strict and sublime ancient drama. The beauty of Orpheus's art and the power of his love can overcome all obstacles - this eternal and always exciting idea lies at the heart of the opera, one of the composer's most perfect creations. In the arias of Orpheus, in the famous flute solo, also known in numerous instrumental versions under the name “Melody,” the composer’s original melodic gift was revealed; and the scene at the gates of Hades - the dramatic duel of Orpheus and the Furies - remained a remarkable example of the construction of a large operatic form in which absolute unity of musical and stage development was achieved.

“Orpheus” was followed by 2 more reform operas - “Alceste” (1767) and “Paris and Helen” (1770) (both in libr. Calzabigi). In the preface to Alceste, written on the occasion of the dedication of the opera to the Duke of Tuscany, Gluck formulated the artistic principles that guided all his creative activity. Without finding adequate support from the Viennese and Italian public. Gluck goes to Paris. The years spent in the capital of France (1773-79) were the time of the composer’s highest creative activity. Gluck writes and stages new reform operas at the Royal Academy of Music - “Iphigenia in Aulis” (libr. L. du Roullet based on the tragedy of J. Racine, 1774), “Armide” (libr. F. Kino based on T. Tasso’s poem “Jerusalem Liberated” ", 1777), "Iphigenia in Tauris" (libr. N. Gniar and L. du Roullet based on the drama by G. de la Touche, 1779), "Echo and Narcissus" (libr. L. Tschudi, 1779), reworks "Orpheus " and "Alceste", in accordance with the traditions of the French theater. Gluck's activities stirred up the musical life of Paris and provoked heated aesthetic discussions. On the composer’s side are French educators and encyclopedists (D. Diderot, J. Rousseau, J. D’Alembert, M. Grimm), who welcomed the birth of a truly high heroic style in opera; his opponents are adherents of the old French lyrical tragedy and opera seria. In an effort to shake Gluck's position, they invited the Italian composer N. Piccinni, who at that time enjoyed European recognition, to Paris. The controversy between supporters of Gluck and Piccinni went down in the history of French opera under the name “wars of Gluckists and Piccinnistas.” The composers themselves, who treated each other with sincere sympathy, remained far from these “aesthetic battles.”

In the last years of his life in Vienna, Gluck dreamed of creating a German national opera based on the story of F. Klopstock “The Battle of Hermann”. However, serious illness and age prevented the implementation of this plan. During Glück's funeral in Vienna, his last work, “De profundls” (“From the abyss I cry...”) was performed for choir and orchestra. This unique requiem was conducted by Gluck's student A. Salieri.

A passionate admirer of his work, G. Berlioz, called Gluck “Aeschylus of Music.” The style of Gluck's musical tragedies - the sublime beauty and nobility of the images, the impeccability of taste and the unity of the whole, the monumentality of the composition based on the interaction of solo and choral forms - goes back to the traditions of ancient tragedy. Created during the heyday of the educational movement on the eve of the Great french revolution, they responded to the needs of the time for great heroic art. Thus, Diderot wrote shortly before Gluck’s arrival in Paris: “Let a genius appear who will establish true tragedy... on the lyrical stage.” Having set as its goal “to expel from the opera all those bad excesses that are already against for a long time they protested in vain against common sense and good taste,” Gluck creates a performance in which all components of dramaturgy are logically appropriate and perform certain, necessary functions in the overall composition. “...I avoided demonstrating a heap of spectacular difficulties to the detriment of clarity,” says the dedication of “Alceste,” “and I did not attach any value to the discovery of a new technique if it did not flow naturally from the situation and was not associated with expressiveness.” Thus, the choir and ballet become full participants in the action; intonationally expressive recitatives naturally merge with arias, the melody of which is free from the excesses of a virtuosic style; the overture anticipates the emotional structure of the future action; relatively complete musical numbers are combined into big stages etc. Directed selection and concentration of means of musical and dramatic characterization, strict subordination of all links of a large composition - these are Gluck’s most important discoveries, which were of great importance both for the renewal of operatic dramaturgy and for the establishment of new, symphonic thinking. (The heyday of Gluck's operatic creativity occurred at a time of intense development of large cyclic forms - symphony, sonata, concept.) An older contemporary of I. Haydn and W. A. Mozart, closely associated with the musical life and artistic atmosphere of Vienna. Gluck, both in terms of his creative individuality and in the general direction of his quest, is closely associated with the Viennese classical school. The traditions of Gluck’s “high tragedy” and the new principles of his dramaturgy were developed in the operatic art of the 19th century: in the works of L. Cherubini, L. Beethoven, G. Berlioz and R. Wagner; and in Russian music - M. Glinka, who extremely highly valued Gluck as the first among opera composers XVIII century

I. Okhalova

The son of a hereditary forester, from an early age accompanies his father on his numerous moves. In 1731 he entered the University of Prague, where he studied vocal art and playing various instruments. While in the service of Prince Melzi, he lives in Milan, takes composition lessons from Sammartini and stages a number of operas. In 1745 in London he met Handel and Arne and composed for the theater. Having become conductor of the Italian Mingotti troupe, he visits Hamburg, Dresden and other cities. In 1750 he married Marianne Pergin, the daughter of a wealthy Viennese banker; in 1754 he became conductor of the Vienna Court Opera and became part of the entourage of Count Durazzo, who managed the theater. In 1762, Gluck's opera Orpheus and Eurydice was successfully staged with a libretto by Calzabigi. In 1774, after several financial failures, he followed Marie Antoinette (to whom he was a music teacher), who became the French queen, to Paris and won the favor of the public despite the resistance of the Piccinnistas. However, upset by the failure of the opera “Echo and Narcissus” (1779), he leaves France and goes to Vienna. In 1781, the composer suffered from paralysis and stopped all activities.

The name of Gluck is identified in the history of music with the so-called reform of musical drama of the Italian type, the only one known and widespread in Europe during his time. He is considered not only a great musician, but above all the savior of the genre, distorted in the first half of the 18th century by the virtuoso embellishments of singers and the rules of conventional, machine-based librettos. Nowadays, Gluck's position no longer seems exceptional, since the composer was not the only creator of the reform, the need for which was felt by other opera composers and librettists, in particular Italian ones. In addition, the concept of the decline of musical drama cannot apply to the peak works of the genre, but perhaps to low-quality works and less talented authors (it is difficult to blame such a master as Handel for the decline).

Be that as it may, prompted by the librettist Calzabigi and other members of the entourage of Count Giacomo Durazzo, governor of the Viennese imperial theaters, Gluck introduced a number of innovations into practice, which certainly led to major results in area musical theater. Calzabigi recalled: “It was impossible for Mr. Gluck, who spoke our language [that is, Italian] poorly, to recite poetry. I read “Orpheus” to him and recited many fragments several times, emphasizing the shades of declamation, stops, slowing down, speeding up, sounds, sometimes heavy, sometimes smooth, which I wanted him to use in his composition. At the same time, I asked him to remove all the flourishes and cadences , ritornellos and everything barbaric and extravagant that has penetrated into our music.”

“Before I begin to work, I try to forget that I am a musician,” said the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, and these words best characterize his reformist approach to composing operas. Gluck “snatched” opera from the power of court aesthetics. He gave her the greatness of ideas, psychological truthfulness, depth and strength of passions.

Christoph Willibald Gluck was born on July 2, 1714 in Erasbach, in the Austrian state of Falz. IN early childhood he often moved from one place to another, depending on which of the noble lands his forester father served on. From 1717 he lived in the Czech Republic. Rudiments musical knowledge he received at the Jesuit college in Komotau. After graduating in 1731, Gluck began to study philosophy at the University of Prague and study music with Boguslav Matej of Montenegro. Unfortunately, Gluck, who lived in the Czech Republic until he was twenty-two, did not receive the same strong vocational education, like its counterparts in Central European countries.

Failure schooling compensated by the strength and freedom of thought that allowed Gluck to turn to the new and relevant, lying beyond the boundaries of legal norms.

In 1735, Gluck became a house musician at the palace of the Lobkowitz princes in Vienna. Gluck's first stay in Vienna turned out to be short-lived: at one of the evenings in the salon of the princes Lobkowitz, the Italian aristocrat and philanthropist A.M. met the young musician. Melzi. Fascinated by Gluck's art, he invited him to his home chapel in Milan.

In 1737 Gluck entered into his new position at Melzi's house. During the four years he lived in Italy, he became close to the greatest Milanese composer and organist Giovanni Battista Sammartini, becoming his student and later a close friend. Management Italian maestro helped Gluck complete his musical education. However, he became an opera composer mainly due to his innate instinct as a musical playwright and the gift of keen observation. On December 26, 1741, the court theater "Reggio Ducal" opened in Milan new season the opera “Artaxerxes” by the hitherto unknown Christoph Willibald Gluck. He was twenty-eight years old - the age at which other composers of the 18th century managed to achieve pan-European fame.

For his first opera, Gluck chose the libretto of Metastasio, which inspired many composers of the 18th century. Gluck specially completed the aria in the traditional Italian manner in order to highlight the merits of his music to the listeners. The premiere was a significant success. The choice of libretto fell on “Demetrius” by Metastasio, renamed after the name of the main character in “Kleoniche”.

Gluck's fame is growing rapidly. The Milan theater again aims to open its winter season with his opera. Gluck composes music based on the libretto by Metastasio "Demophon". This opera was such a great success in Milan that it was soon staged in Reggio and Bologna. Then, one after another, Gluck's new operas were staged in the cities of northern Italy: "Tigran" - in Cremona, "Sofonisba" and "Hippolytus" - in Milan, "Hypermnestra" - in Venice, "Por" - in Turin.

In November 1745, Gluck appears in London, accompanying his former patron, Prince F.F. Lobkowitz. Due to lack of time, the composer prepared a “pasticcio”, that is, he composed an opera from previously composed music. The premiere of two of his operas, “The Fall of the Giants” and “Artamen,” which took place in 1746, was without much success.

In 1748, Gluck received a commission for an opera for the court theater in Vienna. Furnished with magnificent splendor, the premiere of Semiramis Recognized in the spring of the same year brought the composer truly great success, which became the beginning of his triumphs at the Viennese court.

The composer's further activities are connected with the troupe of G.B. Locatelli, who commissioned him to perform the opera “Aezio” at the carnival celebrations of 1750 in Prague.

The success that accompanied the Prague production of Aezio brought Gluck a new opera contract with the Locatelli troupe. It seemed that from now on the composer was linking his destiny more and more closely with Prague. However, at this time an event occurred that dramatically changed his previous way of life: on September 15, 1750, he married Marianna Pergin, the daughter of a wealthy Viennese merchant. Gluck first met his future life partner back in 1748, when he was working in Vienna on Semiramis Known. Despite the significant age difference, a sincere relationship arose between the 34-year-old Gluck and the 16-year-old girl. deep feeling. The substantial fortune Marianne inherited from her father made Gluck financially independent and allowed him to devote himself entirely to creativity in the future. Having finally settled in Vienna, he leaves it only to attend numerous premieres of his operas in other European cities. On all his trips, the composer is invariably accompanied by his wife, who surrounds him with attention and care.

In the summer of 1752, Gluck received a new order from the director famous theater"San Carlo" in Naples is one of the best in Italy. He writes the opera "Titus' Mercy", which brought him great success.

After the triumphant performance of Titus in Naples, Gluck returns to Vienna as a universally recognized master of Italian opera seria. Meanwhile, the fame of the popular aria reached the capital of the Austrian Empire, arousing interest in its creator on the part of Prince Joseph von Hildburghausen, a field marshal and musical philanthropist. He invited Gluck to lead, as “accompanist,” the musical “academies” held weekly in his palace. Under Gluck's leadership, these concerts soon became one of the most interesting events in the musical life of Vienna; They featured outstanding vocalists and instrumentalists.

In 1756, Gluck went to Rome to fulfill an order from the famous Teatro Argentina; he was to write music for Metastasio's libretto Antigone. At that time, performing in front of the Roman public was a serious test for any opera composer.

Antigone was a great success in Rome, and Gluck was awarded the Order of the Golden Spur. This order, ancient in origin, was awarded to encourage outstanding representatives of science and art.

In the middle of the 18th century, the art of virtuoso singers reached its peak, and the opera became exclusively a place for demonstrating the art of singing. Because of this, the connection between music and drama itself, which was characteristic of antiquity, was largely lost.

Gluck was already about fifty years old. A favorite of the public, awarded an honorary order, the author of many operas written in a purely traditional decorative style, he seemed unable to open new horizons in music. The intensely working thought did not break through to the surface for a long time and had almost no effect on the character of his elegant, aristocratically cold creativity. And suddenly, at the turn of the 1760s, deviations from the conventional operatic style appeared in his works.

First, in the opera dating back to 1755, Innocence Justified, there is a departure from the principles that dominated the Italian opera seria. It is followed by the ballet “Don Juan” based on the plot of Moliere (1761) - another harbinger of opera reform.

This was no accident. The composer was distinguished by his amazing sensitivity to the latest trends of our time, his readiness for creative processing of a wide variety of artistic impressions.

As soon as he heard in London in his youth Handel’s oratorios, which had just been created and were not yet known in continental Europe, their sublime heroic pathos and monumental “fresco” composition became an organic element of his own dramatic concepts. Along with the influences of Handel's lush "baroque" music, Gluck adopted from the musical life of London the captivating simplicity and apparent naivety of English folk ballads.

It was enough for his librettist and co-author of the reform, Calzabigi, to draw Gluck’s attention to French lyrical tragedy, and he instantly became interested in its theatrical and poetic merits. The appearance of the French comic opera at the Viennese court also affected the images of his future musical dramas: they descended from the stilted heights cultivated in the opera seria under the influence of the “standard” libretti of Metastasio, and became closer to the real characters of the folk theater. Advanced literary youth, pondering their destinies modern drama, easily drew Gluck into the circle of her creative interests, which forced him to look critically at the established conventions of the opera house. Many similar examples could be given that speak of Gluck’s keen creative sensitivity to the latest trends of our time. Gluck realized that the main things in an opera should be music, plot development and theatrical performance, and not at all artistic singing with coloratura and technical excesses, subject to a single template.

The opera "Orpheus and Eurydice" was the first work in which Gluck implemented new ideas. Its premiere in Vienna on October 5, 1762 marked the beginning of operatic reform. Gluck wrote the recitative so that the meaning of the words came first, the orchestra's part was subordinate to the general mood of the stage, and the singing static figures finally began to play, showed artistic qualities, and the singing would be united with the action. The singing technique has been significantly simplified, but it has become more natural and much more attractive to listeners. The opera's overture also served to introduce the atmosphere and mood of the action that followed. In addition, Gluck turned the choir into a direct component flow of drama. The wonderful uniqueness of “Orpheus and Eurydice” lies in its “Italian” musicality. The dramatic structure is based here on complete musical numbers, which, like the arias of the Italian school, captivate with their melodic beauty and completeness.

Following Orpheus and Eurydice, five years later Gluck completed Alceste (libretto by R. Calzabigi after Euripides) - a drama of majestic and strong passions. Civil theme here it is carried out consistently through the conflict between social necessity and personal passions. Her dramaturgy centers around two emotional states - “fear and sorrow” (Rousseau). In the theatrical-plot static nature of Alceste, in a certain generality, in the severity of its images, there is something oratorio. But at the same time, there is a conscious desire to free ourselves from the dominance of completed musical numbers and follow the poetic text.

In 1774, Gluck moved to Paris, where, in the atmosphere of pre-revolutionary upsurge, his operatic reform was completed and under the undeniable influence of the French theatrical culture was born New Opera“Iphigenia in Aulis” (after Racine). This is the first of three operas created by the composer for Paris. Unlike Alceste, the theme of civic heroism is constructed here with theatrical versatility. The main dramatic situation is enriched with a lyrical line, genre motifs, and lush decorative scenes.

High tragic pathos is combined with everyday elements. IN musical structure noteworthy are individual moments of dramatic climaxes that stand out against the background of more “impersonal” material. “This is Racine’s Iphigenie, converted into an opera,” the Parisians themselves said about Gluck’s first French opera.

In the next opera “Armida”, written in 1779 (libretto by F. Kino), Gluck, in his own words, “tried to be... more of a poet, painter than a musician.” Turning to the libretto of Lully's famous opera, he wanted to revive the techniques of French court opera based on the latest, developed musical language, new principles of orchestral expressiveness and the achievements of his own reformist dramaturgy. The heroic beginning in "Armide" is intertwined with fantastic pictures.

“I’m waiting with horror lest they decide to compare “Armide” and “Alceste,” wrote Gluck, “... one should evoke tears, and the other should give sensory experiences.”

And, finally, the most amazing “Iphigenia in Tauris”, composed in the same 1779 (after Euripides)! The conflict between feeling and duty is expressed in it in psychological terms. Pictures of mental confusion, suffering brought to paroxysms form the central moment of the opera. The picture of a thunderstorm - a characteristically French touch - is embodied in the introduction by symphonic means with an unprecedented sense of foreboding tragedy.

Like nine unique symphonies that “fold” into a single concept of Beethoven symphonism, these five operatic masterpieces, so related to each other and at the same time so individual, form a new style in musical dramaturgy XVIII century, which went down in history under the name of Gluck's opera reform.

In Gluck's majestic tragedies, which reveal the depth of human spiritual conflicts and raise civil issues, a new idea of musical beauty was born. If in the old court opera of France they “preferred... wit to feeling, gallantry to passions, and grace and color of versification to pathos required... by the situation,” then in Gluck’s drama high passions and sharp dramatic clashes destroyed the ideal orderliness and exaggerated grace of the court operatic style .

Gluck argued every deviation from the expected and customary, every violation of standardized beauty with a deep analysis of movements human soul. In such episodes, those bold musical techniques were born that anticipated the art of the “psychological” 19th century. It is no coincidence that in an era when dozens and hundreds of individual composers wrote operas in a conventional style, Gluck created only five reformist masterpieces over the course of a quarter of a century. But each of them is unique in its dramatic appearance, each sparkles with individual musical discoveries.

Gluck's progressive efforts were not put into practice so easily and smoothly. The history of opera even included such a concept as the war of the Piccinists - supporters of old operatic traditions - and the Gluckists, who, in the new operatic style, on the contrary, saw the fulfillment of their long-standing dream of a genuine musical drama, gravitating towards antiquity.

The adherents of the old, “purists and aesthetes” (as Gluck branded them), were repelled by the “lack of sophistication and nobility” in his music. They reproached him for “loss of taste”, pointed to the “barbaric and extravagant” nature of his art, to “cries of physical pain”, “convulsive sobs”, “cries of grief and despair”, which crowded out the charm of a smooth, balanced melody.

Today these reproaches seem ridiculous and groundless. Judging by Gluck's innovation with historical detachment, one can be convinced that he surprisingly carefully preserved those artistic techniques that were developed in the opera theater over the previous century and a half and formed the “golden fund” of his expressive means. IN musical language There is an obvious continuity between Gluck and the expressive and sweet melody of Italian opera and the elegant “ballet” instrumental style of French lyrical tragedy. But in his eyes, "the true purpose of music" was to "give poetry more new expressive power." Therefore, striving to embody the dramatic idea of the libretto in musical sounds with maximum completeness and truthfulness (and Calzabigi’s poetic texts were saturated with genuine drama), the composer persistently rejected all decorative and stencil techniques that contradicted this. “Beauty applied in the wrong place not only loses most of its effect, but also does harm, leading astray the listener, who is no longer in the position necessary to follow the dramatic development with interest,” said Gluck.

And the composer’s new expressive techniques really destroyed the conventional, typified “beauty” of the old style, but at the same time expanded the dramatic possibilities of the music to the maximum.

It was Gluck's vocal parts speech and declamatory intonations appeared, contradicting the “sweet” smooth melody of the old opera, but truthfully reflecting the life of the stage image. The closed static numbers of the “concert in costume” style, separated by dry recitatives, disappeared forever from his operas. took their place new composition close-up, built by scenes, facilitating cross-cutting musical development and emphasizing musical-dramatic climaxes. The orchestral part, doomed to a pitiful role in Italian opera, began to participate in the development of the image, and hitherto unknown dramatic possibilities of instrumental sounds were revealed in Gluck's orchestral scores.

“Music, music itself, turned into action...” wrote Grétry about Gluck’s opera. Indeed, for the first time in the century-long history of the opera house, the idea of drama was embodied in music with such completeness and artistic perfection. The amazing simplicity that determined the appearance of every thought expressed by Gluck also turned out to be incompatible with the old aesthetic criteria.

Far beyond the boundaries of this school, in operatic and instrumental music of different European countries, aesthetic ideals, dramatic principles, forms of musical expression developed by Gluck. Without Gluck's reform, not only the operatic, but also the chamber-symphonic creativity of the late Mozart, and, to a certain extent, the oratorio art of the late Haydn would not have matured. The continuity between Gluck and Beethoven is so natural, so obvious, that it seems as if the musician of the older generation bequeathed the great symphonist to continue the work he had begun.

Gluck spent the last years of his life in Vienna, where he returned in 1779. The composer died on November 15, 1787 in Vienna. Gluck's ashes, initially buried in one of the surrounding cemeteries, were subsequently transferred to the central city cemetery, where all outstanding representatives of Vienna's musical culture are buried.

1. five more pieces, please...

Gluck dreamed of debuting his opera at the English Royal Academy of Music, which was formerly called the Bolshoi Opera House. The composer sent the score of the opera “Iphigenia in Aulis” to the theater management. The director was frankly frightened by this unusual - unlike anything - work and decided to play it safe by writing the following answer to Gluck: “If Mr. Gluck undertakes to present at least six equally magnificent operas, I will be the first to contribute to the presentation of Iphigenia.” Without this, no, for this opera surpasses and destroys everything that existed before."

2. a little bit wrong

A certain rather rich and noble amateur, out of boredom, decided to take up music and first composed an opera... Gluck, to whom he gave it for judgment, returning the manuscript, said with a sigh:
- You know, my dear, your opera is quite nice, but...
- Do you think she lacks something?
- Perhaps.
- What?
- I guess poverty.

3. easy way out

Once passing by a store, Gluck slipped and broke the window glass. He asked the store owner how much the glass cost, and having learned that it was one and a half francs, he gave him a coin of three francs. But the owner did not have change, and he was about to go to his neighbor to change money, but was stopped by Gluck.
“Don’t waste your time,” he said. - No need for change, I’d rather break your glass again sometime...

4. "the main thing is that the suit fits..."

At the rehearsal of Iphigenia in Aulis, Gluck noticed the unusually heavy, as they say, “non-stage” figure of the singer Larrivé, who performed the part of Agamemnon, and did not fail to notice this out loud.
“Patience, maestro,” said Larrivé, “you haven’t seen me in a suit.” I'll bet you anything that I'm unrecognizable in the suit.
At the first rehearsal in costumes, Gluck shouted from the stalls:
- Larrivé! You lost your bet! Unfortunately, I recognized you without difficulty!

Possessing also good vocal abilities, Gluck sang in the choir of the Cathedral of St. Jakub and played in the orchestra conducted by the largest Czech composer and music theorist Boguslav Chornohirsky, sometimes he went to the outskirts of Prague, where he performed for peasants and artisans.

Gluck attracted the attention of Prince Philipp von Lobkowitz and in 1735 was invited to his Viennese house as a chamber musician; Apparently, the Italian aristocrat A. Melzi heard him in Lobkowitz's house and invited him to his private chapel - in 1736 or 1737 Gluck ended up in Milan. In Italy, the birthplace of opera, he had the opportunity to become acquainted with the work of the greatest masters of this genre; At the same time, he studied composition under the guidance of Giovanni Sammartini, a composer not so much of opera as of symphony; but it was under his leadership, as S. Rytsarev writes, that Gluck mastered “modest” but confident homophonic writing,” which was already fully established in Italian opera, while the polyphonic tradition still dominated in Vienna.

In December 1741, Gluck's first opera, the opera seria Artaxerxes, with a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, premiered in Milan. In Artaxerxes, as in all early operas Gluck, the imitation of Sammartini was still noticeable, nevertheless he was a success, which entailed orders from different cities of Italy, and in the next four years no less successful opera series “Demetrius”, “Por”, “Demophon” were created, "Hypermnestra" and others.

In the autumn of 1745, Gluck went to London, from where he received an order for two operas, but in the spring of the following year he left the English capital and joined the Italian as a second conductor. opera troupe Mingotti brothers, with whom he toured Europe for five years. In 1751 in Prague he left Mingotti for the post of conductor in Giovanni Locatelli's troupe, and in December 1752 he settled in Vienna. Having become conductor of the orchestra of Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Gluck led its weekly concerts - “academies”, in which he performed both other people's compositions and his own. According to contemporaries, Gluck was an outstanding opera conductor and knew well the peculiarities of ballet art.

In search of musical drama

In 1754, at the suggestion of the manager Viennese theaters Count G. Durazzo, Gluck was appointed conductor and composer of the Court Opera. In Vienna, gradually becoming disillusioned with the traditional Italian opera seria - “opera-aria”, in which the beauty of melody and singing acquired a self-sufficient character, and composers often became hostages to the whims of prima donnas - he turned to French comic opera (“The Island of Merlin”, “ The Imaginary Slave”, “The Reformed Drunkard”, “The Fooled Cadi”, etc.) and even to ballet: created in collaboration with the choreographer G. Angiolini, the pantomime ballet “Don Juan” (based on the play by J.-B. Molière), a real choreographic drama, became the first embodiment of Gluck's desire to turn the opera stage into a dramatic one.

In his quest, Gluck found support from the chief intendant of the opera, Count Durazzo, and his compatriot, poet and playwright Ranieri de Calzabigi, who wrote the libretto of Don Giovanni. The next step in the direction of musical drama was their new joint work - the opera “Orpheus and Eurydice”, staged in the first edition in Vienna on October 5, 1762. Under the pen of Calzabigi, ancient Greek myth turned into ancient drama, in full accordance with the tastes of the time; however, the opera was not a success with the public either in Vienna or in other European cities.

The need to reform the opera seria, writes S. Rytsarev, was dictated by objective signs of its crisis. At the same time, it was necessary to overcome “the centuries-old and incredibly strong tradition of opera-spectacle, musical performance with a firmly established division of the functions of poetry and music." In addition, opera seria was characterized by static dramaturgy; it was justified by the “theory of affects”, which assumed for each emotional state - sadness, joy, anger, etc. - the use of certain means musical expressiveness, established by theorists, and did not allow for the individualization of experiences. The transformation of stereotyping into a value criterion gave rise in the first half of the 18th century, on the one hand, to a boundless number of operas, and on the other, to their very short life on stage, on average from 3 to 5 performances.

Gluck in his reform operas, writes S. Rytsarev, “made the music “work” for the drama not at individual moments of the performance, which was often found in contemporary opera, but throughout its entire duration. Orchestral means have become effective, secret meaning, began to counterpoint the development of events on stage. The flexible, dynamic change of recitative, aria, ballet and choral episodes has developed into musical and plot eventfulness, entailing direct emotional experience.”

Other composers also searched in this direction, including in the genre of comic opera, Italian and French: this young genre had not yet had time to fossilize, and it was easier to develop its healthy tendencies from within than in opera seria. By order of the court, Gluck continued to write operas in the traditional style, generally giving preference to comic opera. A new and more perfect embodiment of his dream of musical drama was the heroic opera Alceste, created in collaboration with Calzabigi in 1767, presented in the first edition in Vienna on December 26 of the same year. Dedicating the opera to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the future Emperor Leopold II, Gluck wrote in the preface to Alceste:

It seemed to me that music should play in relation to a poetic work the same role as the brightness of colors and correctly distributed effects of light and shade, which animate figures without changing their contours in relation to the drawing... I tried to expel from music all the excesses against which they protest in vain common sense and justice. I believed that the overture should illuminate the action for the audience and serve as an introductory overview of the content: the instrumental part should be determined by the interest and tension of the situations... All my work should have been reduced to the search for noble simplicity, freedom from an ostentatious accumulation of difficulties at the expense of clarity; the introduction of some new techniques seemed to me valuable insofar as it suited the situation. And finally, there is no rule that I would not break in order to achieve greater expressiveness. These are my principles.

Such a fundamental subordination of music to poetic text was revolutionary for that time; in an effort to overcome the number structure characteristic of the opera seria of that time, Gluck not only combined the episodes of the opera into large scenes permeated with a single dramatic development, he tied the overture to the action of the opera, which at that time was usually a separate concert number; In order to achieve greater expressiveness and drama, he increased the role of the choir and orchestra. Neither Alceste nor the third reform opera based on Calzabigi's libretto, Paris and Helena (1770), found support among either the Viennese or Italian public.

Gluck's duties as a court composer also included teaching music to the young Archduchess Marie Antoinette; Having become the wife of the heir to the French throne in April 1770, Marie Antoinette invited Gluck to Paris. However, the composer’s decision to move his activities to the capital of France was influenced to a much greater extent by other circumstances.

Glitch in Paris

In Paris, meanwhile, there was a struggle around the opera, which became the second act of the struggle that had died down back in the 50s between adherents of Italian opera (“Buffonists”) and French opera (“anti-Buffonists”). This confrontation split even the crowned family: the French king Louis XVI preferred Italian opera, while his Austrian wife Marie Antoinette supported national French opera. The split also struck the famous “Encyclopedia”: its editor D’Alembert was one of the leaders of the “Italian party”, and many of its authors, led by Voltaire and Rousseau, actively supported the French one. The stranger Gluck very soon became the banner of the “French party”, and since the Italian troupe in Paris at the end of 1776 was headed by the famous and popular composer Niccolo Piccinni in those years, the third act of this musical and social polemic went down in history as a struggle between the “Gluckists” and "Piccinists". In a struggle that seemed to revolve around styles, the debate was really about what should be opera performance- just an opera, a luxurious spectacle with beautiful music and beautiful vocals, or something significantly more: encyclopedists were waiting for new social content, in tune with the pre-revolutionary era. In the struggle of the “Gluckists” with the “Piccinists,” which 200 years later already seemed like a grandiose theatrical performance, as in the “War of the Buffons,” according to S. Rytsarev, “powerful cultural strata of aristocratic and democratic art” entered into polemics.

In the early 70s, Gluck's reform operas were unknown in Paris; in August 1772, the attache of the French embassy in Vienna, François le Blanc du Roullet, attracted public attention to them in the pages of the Parisian magazine Mercure de France. The paths of Gluck and Calzabigi diverged: with a reorientation towards Paris, du Roullet became the main librettist of the reformer; in collaboration with him, the opera “Iphigenia in Aulis” (based on the tragedy by J. Racine) was written for the French public, staged in Paris on April 19, 1774. The success was consolidated, although it caused fierce controversy, by the new French edition of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Recognition in Paris did not go unnoticed in Vienna: if Marie Antoinette awarded Gluck 20,000 livres for “Iphigenia” and the same for “Orpheus”, then Maria Theresa on October 18, 1774 in absentia awarded Gluck the title of “actual imperial and royal court composer” with an annual salary of 2000 guilders. Thanking for the honor, Gluck, after a short stay in Vienna, returned to France, where at the beginning of 1775 the production was staged. new edition his comic opera “The Enchanted Tree, or the Deceived Guardian” (written back in 1759), and in April, at the Royal Academy of Music, a new edition of “Alceste”.

Music historians consider the Paris period to be the most significant in Gluck's work. The struggle between the “Gluckists” and the “Piccinists,” which inevitably turned into personal rivalry between the composers (which, however, did not affect their relationship), proceeded with varying degrees of success; by the mid-70s, the “French party” split into adherents of traditional French opera (J.B. Lully and J.F. Rameau), on the one hand, and the new French opera of Gluck, on the other. Willingly or unwittingly, Gluck himself challenged the traditionalists by using for his heroic opera “Armida” a libretto written by F. Kino (based on the poem “Jerusalem Liberated” by T. Tasso) for Lully’s opera of the same name. "Armida", which premiered at the Royal Academy of Music on September 23, 1777, apparently was received so differently by representatives of the different "parties" that even 200 years later some spoke of a "tremendous success" and others of a "failure" ".

Nevertheless, this struggle ended in Gluck’s victory, when on May 18, 1779, his opera “Iphigenia in Tauris” (on a libretto by N. Gniar and L. du Roullet based on the tragedy of Euripides) was presented at the Royal Academy of Music, which many still consider best opera composer. Niccolò Piccinni himself recognized Gluck's "musical revolution". Even earlier, J. A. Houdon sculpted a white marble bust of the composer with the inscription in Latin: “Musas praeposuit sirenis” (“He preferred the muses to the sirens”) - in 1778 this bust was installed in the foyer of the Royal Academy of Music next to the busts of Lully and Rameau.

Last years

On September 24, 1779, the premiere of Gluck's last opera, Echo and Narcissus, took place in Paris; however, even earlier, in July, the composer was struck by a stroke, which resulted in partial paralysis. In the autumn of the same year, Gluck returned to Vienna, which he never left: a new attack of illness occurred in June 1781.

During this period, the composer continued the work he had begun in 1773 on odes and songs for voice and piano based on poems by F. G. Klopstock (German). Klopstocks Oden und Lieder beim Clavier zu singen in Musik gesetzt ), dreamed of creating a German national opera based on Klopstock's story "The Battle of Arminius", but these plans were not destined to come true. Anticipating his imminent departure, around 1782 Gluck wrote “De profundis” - a short work for a four-voice choir and orchestra on the text of the 129th Psalm, which on November 17, 1787, at the composer’s funeral, was performed by his student and follower Antonio Salieri. On November 14 and 15, Gluck suffered three more strokes of apoplexy; he died on November 15, 1787 and was initially buried in the church cemetery of the suburb of Matzleinsdorf; in 1890 his ashes were transferred to the Vienna Central Cemetery.

Creation

Christoph Willibald Gluck was a composer primarily of opera, but the exact number of operas he owned has not been established: on the one hand, some works have not survived, on the other, Gluck repeatedly reworked his own operas. The Musical Encyclopedia gives the number 107, but lists only 46 operas.

At the end of his life, Gluck said that “only the foreigner Salieri” adopted his manners from him, “for not a single German wanted to study them”; nevertheless, he had many followers in different countries, each of whom in his own way applied his principles in own creativity, - in addition to Antonio Salieri, these are primarily Luigi Cherubini, Gaspare Spontini and L. van Beethoven, and later Hector Berlioz, who called Gluck “Aeschylus of music”; Among his closest followers, the composer’s influence is sometimes noticeable even beyond operatic creativity, like Beethoven, Berlioz and Franz Schubert. As for creative ideas Gluck, then they identified further development opera house, in the 19th century there was no major opera composer who would not have been influenced to a greater or lesser extent by these ideas; Another opera reformer, Richard Wagner, also turned to Gluck, who half a century later faced opera stage with the same "costume concert" against which Gluck's reform was directed. The composer's ideas turned out to be not alien to the Russian opera cult - from Mikhail Glinka to Alexander Serov.

Gluck also wrote a number of works for orchestra - symphonies or overtures (during the composer’s youth the distinction between these genres was not yet clear enough), a concerto for flute and orchestra (G major), 6 trio sonatas for 2 violins and a general bass, written back in the 40s. In collaboration with G. Angiolini, in addition to Don Juan, Gluck created three more ballets: Alexander (1765), as well as Semiramis (1765) and The Chinese Orphan - both based on the tragedies of Voltaire.

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Notes

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, With. 40.
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, With. 41.
, With. 42-43.
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Gozenpud A. A. Opera Dictionary. - M.-L. : Music, 1965. - pp. 290-292. - 482 s.
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Rosenschild K.K. Affect theory // Musical encyclopedia (edited by Yu. V. Keldysh). - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1973. - T. 1.
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, With. 12.
Gozenpud A. A. Opera Dictionary. - M.-L. : Music, 1965. - pp. 16-17. - 482 s.
Quote by: Gozenpud A. A. Decree. cit., p. 16
, With. 1018.
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, With. 48-49.
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, With. 23.
, With. 84.
, With. 79, 84-85.
, With. 84-85.
. Ch. W. Gluck. Gluck-Gesamtausgabe. Forschungsstelle Salzburg. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
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Literature

Marcus S. A. Gluck K.V. // Musical Encyclopedia / ed. Yu. V. Keldysh. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1973. - T. 1. - pp. 1018-1024.
Rytsarev S. Christoph Willibald Gluck. - M.: Music, 1987.
Kirillina L.V. Gluck's reform operas. - M.: Classics-XXI, 2006. - 384 p. - ISBN 5-89817-152-5.
Konen V.D. Theater and symphony. - M.: Music, 1975. - 376 p.
Braudo E. M. Chapter 21 // General history of music. - M., 1930. - T. 2. From the beginning of the 17th to the middle of the 19th century.
Balashsha I., Gal D. Sh. Guide to Operas: In 4 volumes. - M.: Soviet sport, 1993. - T. 1.
Bamberg F.(German) // Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. - 1879. - Bd. 9 . - S. 244-253.
Schmid H.(German) // Neue Deutsche Biographie. - 1964. - Bd. 6. - S. 466-469.
Einstein A. Gluck: Sein Leben - seine Werke. - Zurich; Stuttgart: Pan-Verlag, 1954. - 315 pp.
Grout D. J., Williams H. W. The Operas of Gluck // A Short History of Opera. - Columbia University Press, 2003. - pp. 253-271. - 1030 s. - ISBN 9780231119580.
Lippman E. A. Operatic Aesthetics // A History of Western Musical Aesthetics. - University of Nebraska Press, 1992. - pp. 137-202. - 536 p. - ISBN 0-8032-2863-5.

Excerpt characterizing Gluck, Christoph Willibald

“It’s a great sacrament, mother,” answered the clergyman, running his hand over his bald spot, along which ran several strands of combed, half-gray hair.
-Who is this? was the commander in chief himself? - they asked at the other end of the room. - How youthful!...
- And the seventh decade! What, they say, the count won’t find out? Did you want to perform unction?
“I knew one thing: I had taken unction seven times.”
The second princess just left the patient’s room with tear-stained eyes and sat down next to Doctor Lorrain, who was sitting in a graceful pose under the portrait of Catherine, leaning his elbows on the table.
“Tres beau,” said the doctor, answering a question about the weather, “tres beau, princesse, et puis, a Moscou on se croit a la campagne.” [beautiful weather, princess, and then Moscow looks so much like a village.]
“N"est ce pas? [Isn’t that right?],” said the princess, sighing. “So can he drink?”
Lorren thought about it.
– Did he take the medicine?
- Yes.
The doctor looked at the breget.
– Take a glass of boiled water and put in une pincee (with his thin fingers he showed what une pincee means) de cremortartari... [a pinch of cremortartar...]
“Listen, I didn’t drink,” the German doctor said to the adjutant, “so that after the third blow there was nothing left.”
– What a fresh man he was! - said the adjutant. – And who will this wealth go to? – he added in a whisper.
“There will be a okotnik,” the German answered, smiling.
Everyone looked back at the door: it creaked, and the second princess, having made the drink shown by Lorren, took it to the sick man. The German doctor approached Lorrain.
- Maybe it will last until tomorrow morning? - asked the German, speaking bad French.
Lorren, pursing his lips, sternly and negatively waved his finger in front of his nose.
“Tonight, not later,” he said quietly, with a decent smile of self-satisfaction in the fact that he clearly knew how to understand and express the patient’s situation, and walked away.

Meanwhile, Prince Vasily opened the door to the princess’s room.
The room was dim; only two lamps were burning in front of the images, and there was a good smell of incense and flowers. The entire room was furnished with small furniture: wardrobes, cupboards, and tables. The white covers of a high down bed could be seen from behind the screens. The dog barked.
- Oh, is it you, mon cousin?
She stood up and straightened her hair, which had always, even now, been so unusually smooth, as if it had been made from one piece with her head and covered with varnish.
- What, did something happen? – she asked. “I’m already so scared.”
- Nothing, everything is the same; “I just came to talk to you, Katish, about business,” said the prince, wearily sitting down on the chair from which she had risen. “How did you warm it up, however,” he said, “well, sit here, causons.” [let's talk.]
– I was wondering if something had happened? - said the princess and with her unchanged, stone-stern expression on her face, she sat down opposite the prince, preparing to listen.
“I wanted to sleep, mon cousin, but I can’t.”
- Well, what, my dear? - said Prince Vasily, taking the princess’s hand and bending it downwards according to his habit.
It was clear that this “well, what” referred to many things that, without naming them, they both understood.
The princess, with her incongruously long legs, lean and straight waist, looked directly and dispassionately at the prince with her bulging gray eyes. She shook her head and sighed as she looked at the images. Her gesture could be explained both as an expression of sadness and devotion, and as an expression of fatigue and hope for a quick rest. Prince Vasily explained this gesture as an expression of fatigue.
“But for me,” he said, “do you think it’s easier?” Je suis ereinte, comme un cheval de poste; [I'm as tired as a post horse;] but still I need to talk to you, Katish, and very seriously.
Prince Vasily fell silent, and his cheeks began to twitch nervously, first on one side, then on the other, giving his face an unpleasant expression that had never appeared on Prince Vasily’s face when he was in the living rooms. His eyes were also not the same as always: sometimes they looked brazenly joking, sometimes they looked around in fear.
The princess, holding the dog on her knees with her dry, thin hands, looked carefully into the eyes of Prince Vasily; but it was clear that she would not break the silence with a question, even if she had to remain silent until the morning.
“You see, my dear princess and cousin, Katerina Semyonovna,” continued Prince Vasily, apparently not without internal struggle starting to continue his speech - at moments like now, you need to think about everything. We need to think about the future, about you... I love you all like my children, you know that.
The princess looked at him just as dimly and motionlessly.
“Finally, we need to think about my family,” Prince Vasily continued, angrily pushing the table away from him and not looking at her, “you know, Katisha, that you, the three Mamontov sisters, and also my wife, we are the only direct heirs of the count.” I know, I know how hard it is for you to talk and think about such things. And it’s not easier for me; but, my friend, I’m in my sixties, I need to be prepared for anything. Do you know that I sent for Pierre, and that the count, directly pointing to his portrait, demanded him to come to him?
Prince Vasily looked questioningly at the princess, but could not understand whether she was understanding what he told her or was just looking at him...
“I never cease to pray to God for one thing, mon cousin,” she answered, “that he would have mercy on him and allow his beautiful soul to leave this world in peace...
“Yes, that’s so,” Prince Vasily continued impatiently, rubbing his bald head and again angrily pulling the table pushed aside towards him, “but finally... finally the thing is, you yourself know that last winter the count wrote a will, according to which he has the entire estate , in addition to the direct heirs and us, he gave it to Pierre.
“You never know how many wills he wrote!” – the princess said calmly. “But he couldn’t bequeath to Pierre.” Pierre is illegal.
“Ma chere,” said Prince Vasily suddenly, pressing the table to himself, perking up and starting to speak quickly, “but what if the letter was written to the sovereign, and the count asks to adopt Pierre?” You see, according to the Count’s merits, his request will be respected...
The princess smiled, the way people smile who think they know the matter more than those they are talking to.
“I’ll tell you more,” continued Prince Vasily, grabbing her hand, “the letter was written, although not sent, and the sovereign knew about it.” The only question is whether it is destroyed or not. If not, then how soon will it all be over,” Prince Vasily sighed, making it clear that he meant by the words everything will end, “and the count’s papers will be opened, the will with the letter will be handed over to the sovereign, and his request will probably be respected. Pierre, as a legitimate son, will receive everything.
– What about our unit? - asked the princess, smiling ironically, as if anything but this could happen.
- Mais, ma pauvre Catiche, c "est clair, comme le jour. [But, my dear Catiche, it is clear as day.] He alone is the rightful heir of everything, and you will not get any of this. You should know, my dear, were the will and the letter written, and were they destroyed? And if for some reason they are forgotten, then you should know where they are and find them, because...
- This was all that was missing! – the princess interrupted him, smiling sardonically and without changing the expression of her eyes. - I am a woman; according to you, we are all stupid; but I know so well that an illegitimate son cannot inherit... Un batard, [Illegitimate,] - she added, hoping with this translation to finally show the prince his groundlessness.
- Don’t you understand, finally, Katish! You are so smart: how do you not understand - if the count wrote a letter to the sovereign in which he asks him to recognize his son as legitimate, it means that Pierre will no longer be Pierre, but Count Bezukhoy, and then he will receive everything in his will? And if the will and the letter are not destroyed, then nothing will remain for you except the consolation that you were virtuous et tout ce qui s"en suit, [and everything that follows from here]. This is true.
– I know that the will has been written; but I also know that it is invalid, and you seem to consider me a complete fool, mon cousin,” said the princess with the expression with which women speak when they believe that they have said something witty and insulting.
“You are my dear Princess Katerina Semyonovna,” Prince Vasily spoke impatiently. “I came to you not to pick a fight with you, but to talk about your own interests as with my dear, good, kind, true relative.” I’m telling you for the tenth time that if a letter to the sovereign and a will in favor of Pierre are in the count’s papers, then you, my dear, and your sisters, are not the heir. If you don’t believe me, then trust people who know: I just spoke with Dmitry Onufriich (he was the house’s lawyer), he said the same thing.
Apparently something suddenly changed in the princess’s thoughts; her thin lips turned pale (the eyes remained the same), and her voice, while she spoke, broke through with such peals that she, apparently, herself did not expect.
“That would be good,” she said. – I didn’t want anything and don’t want anything.
She threw her dog off her lap and straightened the folds of her dress.
“That’s gratitude, that’s gratitude to the people who sacrificed everything for him,” she said. - Wonderful! Very good! I don't need anything, prince.
“Yes, but you are not alone, you have sisters,” answered Prince Vasily.
But the princess did not listen to him.
“Yes, I knew this for a long time, but I forgot that except baseness, deception, envy, intrigue, except ingratitude, the blackest ingratitude, I could expect nothing in this house...
– Do you know or don’t know where this will is? - asked Prince Vasily with an even greater twitching of his cheeks than before.
– Yes, I was stupid, I still believed in people and loved them and sacrificed myself. And only those who are vile and nasty succeed. I know whose intrigue it is.
The princess wanted to get up, but the prince held her hand. The princess had the appearance of a person who had suddenly become disillusioned with the entire human race; she looked angrily at her interlocutor.
“There is still time, my friend.” You remember, Katisha, that all this happened by accident, in a moment of anger, illness, and then forgotten. Our duty, my dear, is to correct his mistake, to make his last moments easier by preventing him from committing this injustice, not letting him die in the thoughts that he made those people unhappy...
“Those people who sacrificed everything for him,” the princess picked up, trying to get up again, but the prince did not let her in, “which he never knew how to appreciate.” No, mon cousin,” she added with a sigh, “I will remember that in this world one cannot expect a reward, that in this world there is neither honor nor justice.” In this world you have to be cunning and evil.
- Well, voyons, [listen,] calm down; I know your beautiful heart.
- No, I have an evil heart.
“I know your heart,” the prince repeated, “I value your friendship and would like you to have the same opinion of me.” Calm down and parlons raison, [let's talk properly] while there is time - maybe a day, maybe an hour; tell me everything you know about the will, and, most importantly, where it is: you must know. We will now take it and show it to the count. He probably already forgot about it and wants to destroy it. You understand that my only desire is to sacredly fulfill his will; I just came here then. I'm only here to help him and you.
– Now I understand everything. I know whose intrigue it is. “I know,” said the princess.
- That’s not the point, my soul.
- This is your protegee, [favorite,] your dear princess Drubetskaya, Anna Mikhailovna, whom I would not want to have as a maid, this vile, disgusting woman.
– Ne perdons point de temps. [Let's not waste time.]
- Ax, don't talk! Last winter she infiltrated here and said such nasty things, such nasty things to the Count about all of us, especially Sophie - I cannot repeat it - that the Count became ill and did not want to see us for two weeks. At this time, I know that he wrote this vile, vile paper; but I thought that this paper meant nothing.
– Nous y voila, [That’s the point.] why didn’t you tell me anything before?
– In the mosaic briefcase that he keeps under his pillow. “Now I know,” said the princess without answering. “Yes, if there is a sin behind me, a great sin, then it is hatred of this scoundrel,” the princess almost shouted, completely changed. - And why is she rubbing herself in here? But I will tell her everything, everything. The time will come!

While such conversations took place in the reception room and in the princess's rooms, the carriage with Pierre (who was sent for) and with Anna Mikhailovna (who found it necessary to go with him) drove into the courtyard of Count Bezukhy. When the wheels of the carriage sounded softly on the straw spread under the windows, Anna Mikhailovna, turning to her companion with comforting words, was convinced that he was sleeping in the corner of the carriage, and woke him up. Having woken up, Pierre followed Anna Mikhailovna out of the carriage and then only thought about the meeting with his dying father that awaited him. He noticed that they drove up not to the front entrance, but to the back entrance. While he was getting off the step, two people in bourgeois clothes hurriedly ran away from the entrance into the shadow of the wall. Pausing, Pierre saw several more similar people in the shadows of the house on both sides. But neither Anna Mikhailovna, nor the footman, nor the coachman, who could not help but see these people, paid no attention to them. Therefore, this is so necessary, Pierre decided to himself and followed Anna Mikhailovna. Anna Mikhailovna walked with hasty steps up the dimly lit narrow stone staircase, calling to Pierre, who was lagging behind her, who, although he did not understand why he had to go to the count at all, and even less why he had to go up the back stairs, but , judging by the confidence and haste of Anna Mikhailovna, he decided to himself that this was necessary. Halfway up the stairs, they were almost knocked down by some people with buckets, who, clattering with their boots, ran towards them. These people pressed against the wall to let Pierre and Anna Mikhailovna through, and did not show the slightest surprise at the sight of them.
– Are there half princesses here? – Anna Mikhailovna asked one of them...
“Here,” the footman answered in a bold, loud voice, as if now everything was possible, “the door is on the left, mother.”
“Maybe the count didn’t call me,” Pierre said as he walked out onto the platform, “I would have gone to my place.”
Anna Mikhailovna stopped to catch up with Pierre.
- Ah, mon ami! - she said with the same gesture as in the morning with her son, touching his hand: - croyez, que je souffre autant, que vous, mais soyez homme. [Believe me, I suffer no less than you, but be a man.]
- Right, I'll go? - asked Pierre, looking affectionately through his glasses at Anna Mikhailovna.
- Ah, mon ami, oubliez les torts qu"on a pu avoir envers vous, pensez que c"est votre pere... peut etre a l"agonie. - She sighed. - Je vous ai tout de suite aime comme mon fils. Fiez vous a moi, Pierre. Je n"oublirai pas vos interets. [Forget, my friend, what was wronged against you. Remember that this is your father... Maybe in agony. I immediately loved you like a son. Trust me, Pierre. I will not forget your interests.]
Pierre did not understand anything; again it seemed to him even more strongly that all this should be so, and he obediently followed Anna Mikhailovna, who was already opening the door.
The door opened into the front and back. An old servant of the princesses sat in the corner and knitted a stocking. Pierre had never been to this half, did not even imagine the existence of such chambers. Anna Mikhailovna asked the girl who was ahead of them, with a decanter on a tray (calling her sweet and darling) about the health of the princesses and dragged Pierre further along the stone corridor. From the corridor, the first door to the left led to the princesses' living rooms. The maid, with the decanter, in a hurry (as everything was done in a hurry at that moment in this house) did not close the door, and Pierre and Anna Mikhailovna, passing by, involuntarily looked into the room where the eldest princess and Prince Vasily. Seeing those passing by, Prince Vasily made an impatient movement and leaned back; The princess jumped up and with a desperate gesture slammed the door with all her might, closing it.
This gesture was so unlike the princess’s usual calmness, the fear expressed on Prince Vasily’s face was so uncharacteristic of his importance that Pierre stopped, questioningly, through his glasses, looked at his leader.
Anna Mikhailovna did not express surprise, she only smiled slightly and sighed, as if showing that she had expected all this.
“Soyez homme, mon ami, c"est moi qui veillerai a vos interets, [Be a man, my friend, I will look after your interests.] - she said in response to his gaze and walked even faster down the corridor.
Pierre did not understand what the matter was, and even less what veiller a vos interets meant, [to look after your interests,] but he understood that all this should be so. They walked through the corridor into a dimly lit hall adjacent to the count's reception room. It was one of those cold and luxurious rooms that Pierre knew from the front porch. But even in this room, in the middle, there was an empty bathtub and water was spilled on the carpet. A servant and a clerk with a censer came out to meet them on tiptoe, not paying attention to them. They entered a reception room familiar to Pierre with two Italian windows, access to the winter garden, with a large bust and a full-length portrait of Catherine. All the same people, in almost the same positions, sat whispering in the waiting room. Everyone fell silent and looked back at Anna Mikhailovna who had entered, with her tear-stained, pale face, and at the fat, big Pierre, who, with his head down, obediently followed her.
Anna Mikhailovna's face expressed the consciousness that the decisive moment had arrived; She, with the manner of a businesslike St. Petersburg lady, entered the room, not letting Pierre go, even bolder than in the morning. She felt that since she was leading the one whom the dying man wanted to see, her reception was guaranteed. Taking a quick glance at everyone who was in the room, and noticing the count's confessor, she, not only bent over, but suddenly became shorter, with a shallow amble, swam up to the confessor and respectfully accepted the blessing of one, then another clergyman.
“Thank God we made it,” she said to the clergyman, “all of us, my family, were so afraid.” This young man is the count’s son,” she added more quietly. - A terrible moment!
Having uttered these words, she approached the doctor.
“Cher docteur,” she told him, “ce jeune homme est le fils du comte... y a t il de l"espoir? [This young man is the son of a count... Is there hope?]
The doctor silently, with a quick movement, raised his eyes and shoulders upward. Anna Mikhailovna raised her shoulders and eyes with exactly the same movement, almost closing them, sighed and walked away from the doctor to Pierre. She turned especially respectfully and tenderly sadly to Pierre.
“Ayez confiance en Sa misericorde, [Trust in His mercy,”] she told him, showing him a sofa to sit down to wait for her, she silently walked towards the door that everyone was looking at, and following the barely audible sound of this door, disappeared behind it.
Pierre, having decided to obey his leader in everything, went to the sofa that she showed him. As soon as Anna Mikhailovna disappeared, he noticed that the glances of everyone in the room turned to him with more than curiosity and sympathy. He noticed that everyone was whispering, pointing at him with their eyes, as if with fear and even servility. He was shown respect that had never been shown before: a lady unknown to him, who was speaking with the clergy, stood up from her seat and invited him to sit down, the adjutant picked up the glove that Pierre had dropped and handed it to him; the doctors fell silent respectfully as he passed them, and stood aside to give him room. Pierre wanted to sit in another place first, so as not to embarrass the lady; he wanted to lift his glove himself and go around the doctors, who were not standing in the road at all; but he suddenly felt that this would be indecent, he felt that this night he was a person who was obliged to perform some terrible ritual expected by everyone, and that therefore he had to accept services from everyone. He silently accepted the glove from the adjutant, sat down in the lady’s place, placing his large hands on his symmetrically extended knees, in the naive pose of an Egyptian statue, and decided to himself that all this should be exactly like this and that he should do it this evening, so as not to to get lost and not do anything stupid, one should not act according to one’s own considerations, but one must submit oneself completely to the will of those who guided him.
Less than two minutes had passed when Prince Vasily, in his caftan with three stars, majestically, holding his head high, entered the room. He seemed thinner since the morning; his eyes were larger than usual when he looked around the room and saw Pierre. He walked up to him, took his hand (which he had never done before) and pulled it down, as if he wanted to test whether it was holding firmly.
- Courage, courage, mon ami. Il a demande a vous voir. C"est bien... [Don't be discouraged, don't be discouraged, my friend. He wanted to see you. That's good...] - and he wanted to go.
But Pierre considered it necessary to ask:
- How is your health…
He hesitated, not knowing whether it was proper to call a dying man a count; He was ashamed to call him father.
– Il a eu encore un coup, il y a une demi heure. There was another blow. Courage, mon ami... [Half an hour ago he had another stroke. Don't be discouraged, my friend...]
Pierre was in such a state of confusion of thought that when he heard the word “blow,” he imagined the blow of some body. He looked at Prince Vasily, perplexed, and only then realized that a blow was a disease. Prince Vasily said a few words to Lorren as he walked and walked through the door on tiptoe. He could not walk on tiptoes and awkwardly bounced his whole body. The eldest princess followed him, then the clergy and clerks passed, and people (servants) also walked through the door. Movement was heard behind this door, and finally, with the same pale, but firm face in the performance of duty, Anna Mikhailovna ran out and, touching Pierre’s hand, said:
– La bonte divine est inepuisable. C"est la ceremonie de l"extreme onction qui va commencer. Venez. [God's mercy is inexhaustible. The unction will begin now. Let's go.]

Christoph Willibald Gluck made an enormous contribution to the history of music as an outstanding composer and reformer of opera. It is rare that any of the opera composers of subsequent generations did not experience, to a greater or lesser extent, the influence of his reform, including the authors of Russian operas. And the great German opera revolutionary rated Gluck’s work very highly. The ideas of debunking routine and cliches on the opera stage, putting an end to the omnipotence of soloists there, bringing together musical and dramatic content - all this, perhaps, remains relevant to this day.

Cavalier Gluck - and this is exactly how he had the right to introduce himself since he was awarded the Order of the Golden Spur (this honorary award he received from the Pope in 1756 for services to the art of music) - was born into a very modest family. His father served as a forester for Prince Lobkowitz. The family lived in the town of Erasbach, south of Nuremberg, in Bavaria, or rather Franconia. Three years later they moved to Bohemia (Czech Republic), and there the future composer received his education, first at the Jesuit College in Komotau, then against the will of his father, who did not want his son musical career– went on his own to Prague and there attended classes at the university’s Faculty of Philosophy and at the same time lessons in harmony and general bass from B. Chernogorsky.

Prince Lobkowitz, a famous philanthropist and amateur musician, drew attention to the talented and hardworking young man and took him with him to Vienna. There we became acquainted with modern opera art, a passion for him came - but at the same time, an awareness of the inadequacy of his composer's weapons. Once in Milan, Gluck improved under the guidance of the experienced Giovanni Sammartini. There, with the production of the opera seria (which means “serious opera”) “Artaxerxes” in 1741, his composing career started, and it should be noted - with great success, which gave the author confidence in his abilities.

His name became famous, orders began to arrive, and new operas were staged on the stages of various European theaters. But in London, Gluck's music was received coldly. There, accompanying Lobkowitz, the composer did not have enough time, and was only able to stage 2 “Pasticcio”, which meant “an opera composed of excerpts from previously composed ones”. But it was in England that Gluck was greatly impressed by the music of George Frideric Handel, and this made him seriously think about himself.

He was looking for his own ways. Having tried his luck in Prague, then returning to Vienna, he tried himself in the genre of French comic opera (“The Corrected Drunkard” 1760, “Pilgrims from Mecca” 1761, etc.)

But a fateful meeting with the Italian poet, playwright and talented librettist Raniero Calzabigi revealed the truth to him. He finally found a like-minded person! They were united by dissatisfaction with modern opera, which they knew from the inside. They began to strive for a closer and artistically correct combination of musical and dramatic action. They opposed the transformation of live performances into concert performances. The result of their fruitful collaboration was the ballet “Don Juan”, the operas “Orpheus and Eurydice” (1762), “Alceste” (1767) and “Paris and Helena” (1770) - new page in the history of musical theater.

By that time, the composer had already been happily married for a long time. His young wife also brought with her a large dowry, and he could devote himself entirely to creativity. He was a highly respected musician in Vienna, and the activity under his direction of the “Music Academy” was one of the interesting events in the history of that city.

A new twist of fate occurred when Gluck's noble student, the emperor's daughter Marie Antoinette, became queen of France and took her beloved teacher with her. In Paris, she became his active supporter and promoter of his ideas. Her husband, Louis XV, on the contrary, was among the supporters of Italian operas and patronized them. Disputes about tastes resulted in real war, and remained in history as the “war of the Gluckists and Piccinists” (composer Niccolo Piccini was urgently sent from Italy to help). Gluck's new masterpieces, created in Paris - “Iphigenia in Aulis” (1773), “Armide” (1777) and “Iphigenia in Tauris” - marked the pinnacle of his creativity. He also made the second edition of the opera “Orpheus and Eurydice”. Niccolo Piccini himself recognized Gluck's revolution.

But, if Gluck’s creations won that war, the composer himself suffered greatly in health. Three strokes in a row knocked him down. Leaving the wonderful creative heritage and students (among whom was, for example, Antonio Salieri), Christoph Willibald Gluck died in 1787 in Vienna, his grave is now located in the main city cemetery.

Musical Seasons