Christoph Willibald Gluck

While "Orfeo ed Euridice" is Gluck's most famous opera, Alceste is the place where the composer laid out his new scheme for the form. He wrote as if the drama were primary and the singers worked in service of the story, thus paving the way for operas like those of Richard Wagner. This original, Italian version is recorded live with an ensemble on period instruments and slightly underperforming vocalists. But showing off wouldn't really be Gluck's style anyway.