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As with many movements in history, the classical period in art and music came about as a reaction to the frivolities and excesses of the baroque period. Instead, the classicists looked further back at the artistic works of antiquity and saw in them a connection to nature and human emotion which was missing from the current art. Classicism in literature and visual art saw a return of simplicity and truth, and music moved towards a purity of harmony and a standardisation of form. The focus was no longer on the virtuosic abilities of the singers, but on the emotional expression of the music. This guide will explore the flurry of operatic productions in the final years of the eighteenth century and the influence of Gluck, Mozart, and Joseph Bologne.

Terminology

• Aria: A long accompanied song for a solo voice.
• Baroque: Relating to or denoting a style of European music, art, and architecture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
• Opera Buffa: A style of comic opera developed in Italy.
• Opera Seria: A style of opera developed in Italy on a serious (usually classical or mythological) theme.
• Recitative: An operatic conversation or musical dialogue. In many operas, the recitative is where the story happens.

Key dates & Events

• 1745 - Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges is born.
• 1756 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is born.
• 1761 - Haydn becomes Vice-Kapellmeister to Prince Paul Anton Esterházy, and later his brother Prince Nicolaus I.
• 1762 - Arne’s Artaxerses is the first opera seria produced with an English libretto
• 1762 - Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice premieres in Vienna.
• 1762 - Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia, and brings her love of Italian opera to the court, engaging a succession of court composers such as Traetta, Paisiello, Sarti, and Cimarosa.
• 1766 - Haydn’s La Canterina premieres in Eisenstadt.
• 1767 - Mozart’s first opera Apollo et Hyacinthus premieres at Salzburg University, as part of the end of year production. Mozart was 11 years old.
• 1767 - Gluck’s Alceste premieres in Vienna.
• 1769 - Chevalier de Saint-Georges takes up a position as violinist in Les Concerts des Amateurs orchestra.
• 1770 - Gluck’s Paride ed Elena premieres in Vienna.
• 1770 - Mozart’s Mitridate, re di Ponto premieres in Milan.
• 1775 - Linley’s The Duenna premieres at Covent Garden, London and enjoys great success.
• 1775 - Chevalier de Saint-Georges is offered the position of director of Paris Opera, but is unable to take the position due to the racist responses from some of the singers at the Opera.
• 1777 - Chevalier de Saint-Georgesâ€� opera Ernestine premieres at the Comédie-Italienne in Paris.
• 1777 - Haydn’s Il mondo della luna premieres at Eszterhaza.
• 1777 - Gluck’s Armide premieres in Paris, and surprises audiences.
• 1778-1780 - Mozart and Chevalier de Saint-Georges share an apartment in the mansion belonging to Marquise de Montesson.
• 1780 - Chevalier de Saint-Georgesâ€� opera L’Amant Anonime premieres in Paris.
• 1782 - Paisello’s l barbiere di Siviglia premieres in St Petersburg and receives great success.
• 1781 - Mozart’s Idomeneo, re di Creta premieres in Munich, representing a shift from Mozart’s ‘teenâ€� operas to his more mature writing. It is closely followed in 1782 by Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
• 1786 - Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro premieres in Vienna, but does not enjoy success until a later premiere in Prague, in the same year.
• 1787 - Gluck dies.
• 1787 - Mozart’s Don Giovanni premieres under its original title Il dissoluto punito, ossia Il Don Giovanni.
• 1789 - The French Revolution begins.
• 1790 - Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte premieres in Vienna.
• 1791 - Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito premieres in Prague.
• 1791 - Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte premieres in Vienna and, unlike many of his operas, is immediately successful.
• 1791 - Mozart dies.
• 1791 - Haydn’s L’anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice is written to premiere in London, but the performance does not take place. It represents a shift in the treatment of chorus in the opera, which heralds an incoming change in the role of the chorus.
• 1792 - Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto premieres in Vienna for Emperor Leopold II, who liked it so much he invited the cast to dinner, then insisted on a second performance.
• 1793 - Chevalier de Saint-Georges is imprisoned during the Revolution.
• 1797 - Cherubini’s ²Ñé»åé±ð premieres in Paris.
• 1799 - The French Revolution ends.
• 1799 - Chevalier de Saint-Georges dies.