Early in his long career, the successful, self-taught English music critic Ernest Newman (1868-1959) wrote this influential account of Gluck's life and musical achievements in relation to the intellectual life of the eighteenth century. First published in 1895, Gluck and the Opera tracks Gluck's ideas and his efforts to move opera forward after a period of stagnation. Philosophers, thinkers, and satirists had been writing for generations about the need to reform the opera, but it was Gluck who brought about far-reaching changes that paved the way for Mozart, Weber and Wagner. His most notable innovation was the fusing of the Italian and French operatic traditions. The first part of the book is a chronological account of Gluck's eventful career which took him all over Europe, but centred around Paris and Vienna. Part 2 deals with Gluck in his broader cultural and intellectual context, and lists his works. | Gluck and the Opera by Ernest Newman, Paperback | Indigo Chapters