Alceste (1776)

Tragédie opéra. A revision of the 1767 Alceste (ID 5912). With ballets. Act III substantially changed after first performances; the underground scenes with Hercule added. The final divertissement enlarged; completed by Gossec with a few movements after Gluck's departure from Paris. This revised version published in Paris in 1776 and remains in the repertory. Important productions: Paris Opéra (1825), with Caroline Branchu, as Alceste may have influenced Berlioz who saw it and later prepared an Alceste edition for Pauline Viardot in 1861; Weimar 1857 conducted by Liszt; Paris 1920s-1940s and Covent Garden 1937 with Germaine Lubin as Alceste; Glyndebourne 1950s; Metropolitan opera in New York 1952 with Kirsten Flagstad as Alceste; La Scala 1954 with Maria Callas as Alceste, cond. Carlo Maria Giulini (one performance recorded); Edinburgh Festival 1974; Covent Garden 1981 Janet Baker's farewell from stage. Recordings with Jessye Norman and Ethel Semser.