1 340 résultats
1864404171864. Height 26.75" 68 cms. With the artist's name "Francin" to truncation of left arm; integral base inscribed "Gluck."<br /> <br /> Some wear and soiling; age-toned. In quite good condition overall.<br /> <br /> Provenance<br /> Catalogue of the Collection Musicale André Meyer 1961 Vol. I p. 97 and plate 122. Auction catalogue of Pescheteau-Badin Godeau et Leroy Collection Musicale André Meyer et a divers Paris July 2 1998 Lot 101 including color photograph. Auction catalogue of Bonhams London The Roy Davids Collection London 3 October 2005 Lot 246 illustrated. Houdon: An Exhibition of Sculpture from the Collection of Michael Hall esq. Catalogue by Christine Defazio Karl Fugelso and Philip Mezzatesta. New York: Salander-O'Reilly Galleries 1998 pp. 12-15. Poulet et al.: Jean-Antoine Houdon - Sculptor of the Enlightenment. Exhibition Catalogue. The National Gallery of Art Washington D.C. 2003 pp. 102-108. Exposition du Centenaire de Houdon Paris: Galleries Buvelot 1928 pp. 40-41. Vitry: Une Liste d'oeuvres de J.-A. Houdon p. 9.<br /> <br /> The present sculpture exists in two versions: the present scarcer version with full shoulders and partial torso and a second version with partial shoulders and reduced torso<br /> <br /> "Following Houdon's plaster bust of Gluck shown in the Salon of 1775 . the marble was exhibited in 1777 . and destroyed in the fire at the Paris Opera 28-29 Oct. 1873. A faithful reproduction ordered in 1798 by Alexandre Lenoir for the Musée des monuments français and executed in marble by Guillaume Francin is in the Musée national du chateau de Versailles. The Louvre's plaster cast workshop distributed copies of this reproduction beginning in 1864." Poulet et al.: Jean-Antoine Houdon - Sculptor of the Enlightenment. Exhibition Catalogue. The National Gallery of Art Washington D.C. 2003 p. 107.<br /> <br /> "The present bust is probably one of the Louvre's copies. . It was in his depiction of Gluck that Houdon first showed the ravages of smallpox on a subject - it was a common affliction in eighteenth-century France but artists were expected to flatter their subjects in this respect at least." Bonhams catalogue<br /> <br /> "Gluck was an artist a great musician and therefore must be given the attributes of a genius. His face was deeply pockmarked and the sculptor used this fact to establish his theme. He clothed him in a heavy coat whose texture is an overall pattern of slashed grooves free and direct in their expressive impact. Here there was no attempt to stimulate the appearance of the actual material but rather in a manner almost Rodinesque to bring out the quality of the clay. The open shirt the unbuttoned vest the short disheveled hair and the alert titled pose of the head all emphasize the impact of genius." Arnason: The Sculptures of Houdon p. 34. unknown
1840008068Strasbourg: Emile Simon Fils 1840. First Edition. Quarter Morocco. Marbled paper pastedown on boards. Very Good. Colorful 1840 three day celebration of the unveiling of a statue to Johann Gutenberg which occurred on June 24 through the 26th 1840. This stunning color plate book is almost entirely devoted to the endless parade organized for the event that proceeded during the second day or the 25th -- based on the dates given in the plate captioning. In this parade each of many professions had its own contingent and dressed and carried a sometimes impressive prop reflecting on the profession. From the vast number of paraders it would seem that virtually everyone in Strasbourg was an active participant. Oblong folio 32 by 53 cm. 48 hand-colored plates with five of the plates with fold-outs and thus extra long. Fold-out plates are counted as two plates in the enumeration which thus goes up to the number 53. In complete form this book is scarce. Outside of France and Germany the only hard copy showing on OCLC First Search is at the Morgan. It isn't clear to us whether the copies in Europe are commensurate but at most there may be half a dozen copies. No copies found in commerce on the date of this listing. Contemporary morocco spine moderately rubbed and scratches on the paper pastedown. Leaves age toned with deeper age toning affecting the fold-out plates. Occasional foxing with perhaps two plates with a considerable amount. A very short closed tear or two. Some shake to the binding as typical in such an extreme oblong book. Emile Simon Fils unknown
1968185099New York: The New American Library 1968. Her first book of verse inscribed to a poet she esteemed First edition inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper "August 4. For Hugh: Only great fondness could keep my admiration admiration sic & not envy from Louise". The recipient was the poet Hugh Seidman whom Glück greatly admired. "I know few collections so lacking in complacency so adamant in their refusal to charm or console so fiercely intelligent" she wrote of his Collecting Evidence 1970. "If Seidman has less conspicuous virtuosity than Plath to fix on the obvious contemporary example he has to my mind greater subtlety an inclination to prefer recalcitrant mystery to hallucination". Tall octavo. Original grey cloth spine lettered in dark blue grey endpapers. With dust jacket. Spine slightly sunned stain at foot a few faint marks to contents; jacket unclipped toned a few short closed tears at edges tape repair at head of spine: a very good copy in like jacket. Louise Glück Proofs & Theories: Essays on Poetry 1994. hardcover
17761634Paris; Lion Lyon: Au Bureau d’Abonnement Musical Rue du Hazard Richelieu Et Aux Adresses Ordinaires; Chez Castaud Place de la Commedie 1776. First edition. In contemporary green vellum with red title vignettes on spine and front panel. Tinted edges. Contemporary bookseller’s vignette on title page Chez Pujolas Montpellier. Cover rubbed at extremities stained damaged at corners. Title page torn at lower corner with no effect to text. Old shelf mark in ink on the title page. Bookblock somewhat loose. Pages lightly brown. Occasional stains. A brown stain to the lower edge of the fists few leaves and to the side edge of the last leaves. Overall in very good condition. First edition. In contemporary green vellum with red title vignettes on spine and front panel. Tinted edges. Contemporary bookseller’s vignette on title page Chez Pujolas Montpellier. 2 305 1 p. <p><br /> First edition of the full score of the French revised version of Gluck’s Alceste. <br /> <p><p><br /> "The first edition consisting of 305 numbered pages - of which only two copies have been found by me - exists in two states." Hopkinson. <br /> <p><p><br /> A scarce true first edition of the full score of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s 1714–1784 opera finished in 1767 and recomposed for the Paris performances in 1776. The present edition consisting of 305 numbered pages with the printed price on the title page “Prix 24 Fr†and with the “Catalogue†on the verso of the title page.<br /> <p><p><br /> RISM G 2638; Hopkinson 44A; Wotquenne 44<br /> <p>. Au Bureau d’Abonnement Musical, Rue du Hazard Richelieu, Et Aux Adresses Ordinaires; Chez Castaud Place de la Commedie unknown
193293639Anton Schroll & Co. New. 1932. Hardcover. FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request - IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - Flawless copy brand new pristine never opened -- Text in German. 102 pages; 41 illustrations. Gemälde Gemalde Catalogue Raisonne Catalog Raisonné Complete Works Leben Und Werk Oeuvre-Katalog Kritischem Oeuvrekatalog Raisonnee Anton Schroll & Co. hardcover
196947890London: Anvil Press Poetry 1969. First English edition. Hardcover. Fine/fine. 53p octavo Limted signed edition. Printed on pinkpaper a hint of light wear to the lower corners about fine in in a very ood or better lightly foxed dust jacket the limited signed edition was issued price clipped This is #22 of 50 numbered copies and signed by Gluck on the dedication page. Housed in a fine custom royal blue cloth clamshell case with the spine titled in gilt and the author's gilt facsimile signature on the cover. The English edition of Gluck's first book was issued signed in a remarkably small limitation; she has won the National Book Award the Pulitzer rize and the Nobel Prize in Literature <br/><br/> Anvil Press Poetry hardcover
1969502410London: Anvil Press Poetry 1969. Hardcover. First English edition limited signed issue. Printed on pink paper. Crown very gently bumped else fine in a lightly worn near fine dust jacket the limited signed edition was issued price-clipped. Number 31 of 50 copies Signed by Glück on the half-title. The English edition of her first book the signed issue released in a remarkably small limitation. Glück has received the National Book Award the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature. Anvil Press Poetry hardcover
40422Paris 19th century. 61 x 47.3 cms with frame 69.5 x 56 cms.<br /> <br /> The composer is depicted bust-length turned 3/4 left facing forward wearing a red jacket blue waistcoat white collared blouse with lace and wig. For a fine full-page color illustration of the original held at the Louvre see MGG Vol. 5 plate 15.<br /> <br /> "Gluck was recognized as an extraordinary phenomenon in his lifetime as is evident from Burney's deferential treatment of the composer during his visit to Vienna in 1772. Shortly afterwards the controversy stirred in French journals resonated well beyond the capital to other countries. The daily cultural discourse of Paris concerned Gluck's 'musical revolution' a catch-phrase taken up by Gluck's opponents such as Jean-François Marmontel as well as by his defenders; in 1781 the 'revolution worked in music by M. le Chevalier Gluck' later dubbed the 'German Orpheus' was used as the title of a collection of pamphlets for and against Gluck with a heavy editorial bias in favour Lesure c1984. Although operas by Piccinni Salieri and especially Sacchini as well as French contemporaries such as Grétry continued alongside Gluck in the French repertoire beyond the Revolution and Empire revivals of Gluck constituted the principal touchstone of dramatic music into the 1820s when the last routine revivals were acclaimed by Berlioz. Opera composers including Salieri Lemoyne and Vogel in Paris were presented or presented themselves as his legitimate successors; elsewhere Mozart especially in Idomeneo and J.M. Kraus were strongly affected by Gluck's example in constructing scenes applying a dramatically motivated admixture of lyricism and more direct and declamatory vocal expression and sometimes in modelling as when the statue in Don Giovanni adopts the tone of the oracle in Alceste. After his death his direct effect can still be heard in Die Zauberflöte and in several French operas including those of Méhul Cherubini and Spontini.<br /> <br /> Among the Romantics he continued to inspire respect and from Berlioz and Wagner emulation. Berlioz supervised productions of Orphée and Alceste in Paris 1859 and 1866. In Orphée Berlioz created the basis for the version most used over the next century at least by restoring the Italian key-scheme in several scenes to accomodate the tessitura of the title role to a female singer; Pauline Viardot was the first in a line to include Giulia Ravoli Kathleen Ferrier Janet Baker and others although the French version with tenor retained some currency. Musicians close to Berlioz began to realize his ideal of a complete critical edition although only a handful of 'reform' operas were published. Wagner wrote about Gluck in Oper und Drama having learned much from deep study of Iphigénie en Aulide of which he made a modernized performing version Dresden 1847. In 1890 for Weimar Richard Strauss similarly adapted Iphigénie en Tauride. Such orchestrational revision and the melding of recitative and aria to blur Gluck's structure of closed forms represented a style of musical archaeology from which Handel and Mozart also suffered or in terms of public exposure benefited. The later 20th century witnessed not only numerous revivals of the reform operas some in musically authentic form and including the Vienna Orfeo but also a less one-sided critical view of Gluck became possible with the publication of a new critical edition and a revival of interest in works in other genres especially opéra comique and with Don Juan ballet. Winton Dean has observed that Gluck's compromise between the demands of words and music 'was one of the most satisfying and successful of all and has placed his greatest works beyond the reach of time' Grove6. None of Gluck's operas except Orfeo/Orphée is likely to become a staple work in the repertory; however to the extent that every production has the aspect of a revival continued interest in his achievement and consequently revival of an increasing proportion of his output is guaranteed so long as opera continues to occupy a central place in Western musical culture." Julian Rushton in Grove Music Online. unknown
19693979<p>First UK Edition; A Presentation copy double SIGNED by the author and inscribed to publisher Herb Yellin. A Near Fine book in a Near Fine dust jacket with only light rubbing to the board and panel edges and a couple of tiny chips out of the spine head and top edge. An outstanding copy of this collection of poems the Pulitzer winning author's first collection; scarce in the first edition and signed unique with the association to Herb Yellin. An important addition to any Gluck or modern poetry collection. Not remaindered not price-clipped the limited edition is price clipped not ex-library; in a protective Mylar cover and will ship securely wrapped in a sturdy box.</p> Anvil Press hardcover
32415New York: George Braziller. As New. Hardcover Monograph. FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request - IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - AS NEW THE TEXT BLOCK IS PRISTINE CLEAN UNMARKED AND IN EXCELLENT CONDITION - - Not dated; copyright 1936. Text in English; many lovely color plates. -- with a bonus offer-- . George Braziller hardcover
1932C93639Anton Schroll & Co. As New. 1932. Hardcover. FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request - IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - Flawless copy brand new pristine never opened -- Text in German. 102 pages; 41 illustrations. Gemälde Gemalde Catalogue Raisonne Catalog Raisonné Complete Works Leben Und Werk Oeuvre-Katalog Kritischem Oeuvrekatalog Raisonnee -- with a bonus offer-- - May be EITHER: out of print OOP and extremely rare in this pristine condition; signed by author or contributor; or a first or special edition; inquire for details . Anton Schroll & Co. hardcover
1969136043Oxford: Anvil Press Poetry 1969. Signed limited first edition of the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning poet's first book one of only 50 numbered copies. Octavo original cloth. Signed by Louise Gluck on the half-title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. "This book introduces Louise Gluck who at twenty-four is already a poet of terrifying accomplishment. Miss Gluck's work gives us a sense of defiled life made whole again by courage wit and intelligence" Stanley Moss. Anvil Press Poetry hardcover
20191006NY: The Ecco Press 2019. First edition. Hardcover. Very good/Near fine. Association copy inscribed opposite the title page by Gluck to the poet critic and biographer Vince Clemente with a holograph version of her poem "The Embrace" which leads the book's second section following the inscription and running onto the title page. For its flavor the finish: "above the trees the city rose in a kind of splendor / as all that is wild comes to the surface." Also signed in full above her printed name on the title page. Clemente was a professor at SUNY and his papers are held at Rochester University. A very good copy with a mildly slant spine and a remainder mark to bottom text block face. The rear free endpaper is slightly askew and there are also a few very faint spots of foxing to gray spine cloth at the top edge. One small streak of binder glue present on front board's spine cloth. In a very near fine jacket. Though an imperfect copy the holograph poem makes this book a unique find from Gluck the late Nobel Prize winner. The Ecco Press hardcover
500249New York: Antaeus Editions/ Printed by The Oliphant Press 1976. Softcover. Fine. First edition signed issue. Tall narrow octavo. 12pp. Sewn green printed wrappers. Fine. Limited to 50 numbered copies Signed by Glück of 500 total. Nicely designed and printed by Ronald Gordon at The Oliphant Press. Very scarce. Housed in a fine custom royal blue clamshell case with the spine titled in gilt and the author's gilt facsimile signature on the cover. Glück received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature. Antaeus Editions/ (Printed by The Oliphant Press) unknown
187177New York: The Ecco Press 1980. It is a deep relief to love so consistently First edition inscribed by Glück to her fellow poet and close friend Hugh Seidman: "Hugh - the experience of profound regard is not easy since it contains so much yearning. So much envy. Your poems seem sometimes that which I derive from that which I aspire to -- finally. It is a deep relief to love so consistently. Louise". Glück's admiration for Seidman's poetry was intense and long lasting. She published an essay celebrating his work On Hugh Seidman in her 1994 Proof & Theories: Essays on Poetry. In it she said of his 1970 volume Collecting Evidence that "I know few collections so lacking in complacency so adamant in their refusal to charm or console so fiercely intelligent" p. 48. Octavo. With the publisher's advertising slip printed in purple. Original purple cloth spine lettered in silver. With dust jacket designed by Loretta Li. Upper edge a little faded; jacket unclipped spine a little creased edges a little rubbed with 3 tiny closed tears: a near-fine copy in very good jacket. hardcover
1969h01523<p>London: Anvil Press 1969. First Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. 8 54 pp. Red cloth. Fine in Fine dust jacket price clipped. Number 6 of 50 numbered copies signed by Louise Gluck.</p> Anvil Press hardcover
177940424Paris: Chez des Lauriers Md. de Papiers Rue St. Honoré à côté de celle des Prouvaires Ou trouve aussi toutes sortes de papiers réglés pour copier la Musique 1779. Folio. Contemporary quarter dark brown calf with marbled boards spine in decorative compartments gilt with titling gilt to spine. 1f. recto title verso blank 256 pp. <br /> <br /> With blank overpaste to title obscuring the words "Par M. Le Baron de T." <br /> <br /> Signature "L. Wessén" in ink to front pastedown and "A. Benzinger" to free front endpaper. <br /> <br /> Binding worn rubbed and bumped; lower portion of upper joint partially split. Occasional small stains foxing browning tears and light dampstaining; minor loss to blank outer margin of pp. 139 and 149; several small holes to p. 237. Quite a good copy overall on quality paper. First Edition variant issue. Hopkinson p. 63 with attributes of 47Ac except here there is no plate number and the price "40" appears in manuscript and 47Ae as "Royale" has been erased here in pencil. Wotquenne 47. BUC p. 386. RISM G2739<br /> <br /> First performed in Paris at the Opéra on 24 September 1779. <br /> <br /> "Echo et Narcisse was a failure at its early performances largely because the audiences and critics expected high drama along the lines of Alceste Armide and Iphigénie en Tauride. But Echo et Narcisse is a different type of work; it belongs to the pastoral tradition still popular at this date and a genre to which Gluck frequently returned. Comparisons were and are still made with Gluck's more popular dramas because Echo et Narcisse contains numbers and scenes similar to those that had made greater impressions before. It is not a weak opera and there is much fine music in it ." Jeremy Hayes in Grove Music Online<br /> <br /> Gluck was a "Bohemian-Austrian composer of Italian and French opera a leading figure in opera of the second half of the 18th century and the person chiefly credited with the 'reform' of opera after the age of Metastasian opera seria. . Force of circumstance may have led Gluck to Paris to complete his operatic career but in artistic terms Paris can be seen as his inevitable final destination. His years of grounding in opéra comique and the ballet and via Traetta his response to the French tragédie lyrique tradition had already provided the impetus for his overhaul of the opera seria; now it was time to confront that tradition on its own territory. On more than one occasion indeed Gluck explicitly owned the French influence and its particular effect on his preparation for Paris. Between them the eight operas that he produced for the Académie Royale de Musique in Paris - the two Iphigénie operas; the radical revisions for Paris of the Vienna 'reform' operas Orfeo and Alceste; the similar revisions of the Vienna opéras comiques Cythère assiégée and L'arbre enchanté; Armide a new opera on a libretto that Quinault had written for Lully more than 90 years earlier; and the last opera Echo et Narcisse - are all different attempts at the confrontation and revival of that lyric tradition." Jeremy Hayes Bruce Alan Brown Max Loppert and Winton Dean in Grove Music Online. Chez des Lauriers Md. de Papiers, Rue St. Honoré à côté de celle des Prouvaires Ou trouve aussi toutes sortes de papiers ré unknown
173715Hopewell New Jersey: The Ecco Press 1992. Crying yes risk joy / in the raw wind of the new world First edition inscribed by the author to a fellow gardener-poet on the half-title "For Meryl. After the airport. Louise Glück". Meryl Natchez first encountered Glück's works when she bought this copy at an airport bookstore. Natchez evidently told this story to Glück who had Natchez in attendance while giving a poetry reading at Moe's Books Berkeley on 9 February 2012 and at her Stanford lectures. Natchez has published two poetry collections Jade Suit 2001 and Catwalk 2020. Glück's Pulitzer Prize-winning collection contains some of her best-known poems including "Snowdrops" "End of Winter" and "The Silver Lily". Octavo. Original dark blue quarter cloth spine lettered in gilt yellow paper-covered sides with publisher's blind device on front. With dust jacket. Publisher's mailing slip loosely inserted. A fine copy in fine unclipped jacket. hardcover
19698307Middlesex: Anvil Press Poetry 1969. First U.K. Edition. First Impression cloth issue. Octavo 22.5cm; burgundy cloth with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; viii23-533pp. Signed by the author on the title page. Spine slightly askew light wear to heel and lower board edges else a clean Near Fine copy. Dustjacket is unclipped priced 21/- with light wear to extremities a few tiny nicks and tears with some mild creasing at base of spine and upper rear panel; Very Good. <br /> <br /> The Nobel Prize-winning author's first book. "Her poems deal in wastelands the lost lives of cripples the hopeless and loveless; yet her landscapes have a stern beauty a mythic size that looms behind the everyday. Arid merciless stinging yet full of life these are strikingly original poems" from front flap. 8307. Anvil Press Poetry unknown
1975501001New York: The Ecco Press 1975. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First edition hardcover issue. Fine in fine dust jacket with a tiny closed tear on the front cover. Signed in the title page and additionally Inscribed on the facing page to poet and editor Douglas Blazek: "For Doug Blazek with good wishes Louise Glück." The Poetry Foundation calls Blazek "one of the instigators of the Mimeo Revolution" and a "force in the American poetry 'underground' of the 1960s." In addition to publishing heavily early in his career Blazek also founded and edited the magazine Ole and the small press Open Skull where he published Bukowski Robert Crumb d.a. levy and other "underground" writers. A lovely copy of the Nobel laureate's second book with an excellent association. Housed in a fine custom royal blue clamshell case with the spine titled in gilt and the author's gilt facsimile signature on the cover. The Ecco Press hardcover
193451256Amsterdam The Netherlands: N. V. Kunsthandel P. De Boer. As New. 1934. Hardcover. FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - Text block pristine pages tight to spine - 75 pages of text in Dutch followed by 48 black and white plates. Among the artists represented: Saverij P. Snayers D. Vinckeboons and others. -- with a bonus offer-- . N. V. Kunsthandel P. De Boer hardcover
193431822Amsterdam: N. V. Kunsthandel P. De Boer. As New. 1934. Paperback. FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request - IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - 75 pages of text; 48 pages of black and white plates; text in Dutch. 227 works in the exhibition. -- with a bonus offer-- . N. V. Kunsthandel P. De Boer paperback
19686849N. Y.: New American Library 1968. First edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet's scarce first book. A fine copy. 8vo cloth dust jacket. A fine copy. New American Library unknown
19686861New York: New American Library 1968. Paperwraps. Fine. Paperwraps. 1st edition long galley uncorrected proof original wire staple bound with custom archival box. The celebrated author's first book of poetry presented here in the first issue uncorrected proof format. Laid in is a signed letter from Stanley Moss on New American Review letterhead requesting a review from fellow poet William Meredith. Gluck won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2020. The long galley uncorrected proof is housed in a bespoke archival box. Minimal wear to edges else fine. Very scarce. Additional postage required. New American Library unknown
177429643Paris: Lemarchand 1774. Folio. 19th century quarter dark brown leather-backed marbled boards spine in decorative compartments gilt titling gilt. 1f. recto title verso publisher's catalogue 1f. recto dedication verso argument 217 pp. <br /> <br /> With an inscription signed by the Canadian conductor Wilfrid Pelletier 1896-1982 to Italian conductor Tullio Serafin 1878-1968 dated New York 1928 to front flyleaf.<br /> <br /> Bass figurings added in manuscript to pp. 10-12 Act I scene 1; final page of music signed by the publisher Lemarchand. <br /> <br /> Binding worn; edges rubbed; spine split at joints and hinges; chipped at head and tail. Slightly worn and browned; title soiled with outer edge reinforced with paper tape; some minor staining; several repairs to inner margins; occasional small holes. First Edition variant issue. Hopkinson 41Af. Wotquenne 41. Lesure p. 240. RISM G2852 not distinguishing among issues. <br /> <br /> First performed in Vienna at the Burgtheater on 5 October 1762 in Italian to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and in Paris at the Opéra on 2 August 1774 in French to a libretto by Pierre Louis Moline after Calzabigi.<br /> <br /> "The classical orientation of Calzabigi evident in Orfeo ed Euridice from the moment the curtain rose on the almost archaeologically recreated ancient funerary ritual e.g. the threefold calling of the name of the deceased coloured the entirety of his collaboration with Gluck. Despite the ambiguous attributions of the prefaces signed by the composer it is clear that Gluck largely shared his librettist's classical enthusiasms . It is revealing that Gluck sought out subject matter from Greek tragedy independently of Calzabigi after the latter's departure from Vienna - most probably with his inner conviction mixing with a desire to exploit the goût grec then prevailing in France . Calzabigi's poetry was almost completely devoid of metaphors and similes and placed a mere three characters in a fluid context of dances and choruses or both simultaneously. The action was reduced to essentials: a demonstration of the persuasive powers of music and a cautionary tale on the dangers of curiosity with Orpheus bewailing the loss of his wife already as the curtain rose. Gluck's approach as composer was no less radical particularly in his near-complete elimination of coloratura and of opening ritornellos in the solo numbers. Above all the opera was remarkable in its emphasis on continuity which was achieved chiefly through the enchaining of harmonically open-ended sections of music and through the complete avoidance of recitativo semplice in favour of orchestrally accompanied recitatives so as to avoid sharp contrasts of texture with the set pieces. This continuity and the nearly syllabic vocal writing were calculated to prevent applause and thus also to promote the audience's absorption in the spectacle." Bruce Alan Brown and Julian Rushton in Grove Music Online. Lemarchand unknown
