Does Christoph Willibald Gluck deserve better?

Monday, July 7, 2014

Last week, we celebrated the 300th birthday of one of the most important opera composers and reformers of the second half of the eighteenth century: Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714 - 1787). His birthday is an occasion for various events in Germany and abroad. The Bavarian town of Berching, where Gluck was born, presented a commemorative postage stamp, and in Frankfurt am Main a porcelain medal was unveiled (see photo, left). Numerous concerts, operas, lectures, publications, and exhibitions can be added to this. All events for the Gluck Year 2014 have been brought together by the International Gluck Society on their website.

The medal that was presented in Frankfurt was designed by the artist Silvia Klöde. It was handcasted and is unglazed with a diameter of ca. 11 cm. It is part of a limited edition of 125 from Lettin Porzellan (Lettin-Medaille No. 12). Inspiration for the artist’s work was provided by the Frankfurt office of the Gluck Gesamtausgabe, a project of the Akademie Mainz. An exhibition in Frankfurt on the transmission and reception of Gluck’s works, “Der Opernreformer Christoph Willibald Gluck - Überlieferung und Rezeption seiner Werke,” can still be seen until 9 August at the University Library (Universitätsbibliothek, Zentralbibliothek), Bockenheimer Landstr. 134–138, 3rd floor, in the hallway in front of the reading room for Musik, Theater, und Film.

The RISM online catalog has ca. 1,500 sources by Christoph Willibald Gluck. Of the nine autograph manuscripts that RISM indexes, three of them can be viewed online. Series A/I has over 360 individual printed editions.

Category: Musical anniversaries