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The Musical World of Marie-Antoinette - Opera and Ballet in 18th Century Paris and Versailles (Paperback)
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The Musical World of Marie-Antoinette - Opera and Ballet in 18th Century Paris and Versailles (Paperback)
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For decades, 18th century Paris had been declining into a baroque
backwater. Spectacles at the opera, once considered fit for a king,
had become "hell for the ears," wrote playwright Carlos Goldoni.
Then, in 1774, with the crowning of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette,
Paris became one of the world's most vibrant musical centers.
Austrian composer Christophe-Willibald Gluck, protege of the queen,
introduced a new kind of tragic opera--dramatic, human and closer
to nature. The expressive pantomime known as ballet d'action,
forerunner of the modern ballet, replaced stately court dancing.
Along the boulevards, people whistled lighter tunes from the
Italian opera, where the queen's favorite composer, Andre Modeste
Gretry, ruled supreme. This book recounts Gluck's remaking of the
grand operatic tragedy--long symbolic of absolute monarchy--and the
vehement quarrels between those who embraced reform and those who
preferred familiar baroque tunes or the sweeter melodies of Italy.
The turmoil was an important element in the ferment that led to the
French Revolution and the beheading of the queen.
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