He was born in Palmero Italy in 1660. He was the music director of the court of Naples. He also served as the court composer for Queen Christina of Sweden. He was a great conductor and was later named the most prolific composer of Italian opera of his time. He is known as the greatest of the composers to carry Italian Opera into its second period, as number opera. He is also known as the creator of the Italian Overture and a major figure in the development of classical harmony. He made many modifications of the current operatic style of his time, some of which include the increased use of instruments to accompany the voices in his operas, and introducing horns to the ensemble. The Italian overture that he developed is a form which moves from fast to slow, to fast. It was the forerunner of the classical symphony. He wrote approximately 114 operas one of which being Mitridate Eupatore in 1707. He died in 1725, in Naples.Christoph Willibald GluckIn the early 18th century, opera was merely a sophisticated kind of variety show. It generally consisted of disorganized presentations of arias, choral singing, ballets and orchestral music. Christoph Willilbald Gluck pioneered "reform Operas" in which music enhanced the drama of a powerful and poetic story. His productions included artistic stage craft and dramatic direction. Gluck's new opera form was adopted by most opera composers of his time as well as later composers. He was born in 1714, in Bavaria. He was not considered a prodigy, and had no family musical background. In 1737 he was sent to Milan to study opera, and in 1754 he was appointed opera director of the court theater in Vienna. His first reform work Orfeo ed Euridice presented in 1763, was produced in Vienna. His reform works won high praise with the French critics. He died in Vienna in 1787.Wolfgang Amadeus MozartHe was a central figure of the Viennese classical school, and is often considered the greatest musical geni...
