Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-87), German operatic com-poser. He studied in Prague and Vienna and later visited Italy, where his early operas were produced. In 1749 he settled in Vienna and, influenced by the librettist Calzabigi, began composing in a more natural style, in which the music reflected the plot and characters. His ‘reform’ operas include Orfeo ed Euridice (1762), Alceste (1767), and the French opera Iphigenie en Tauride (1779).
