Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck, born on 2 July 1714, died on 15 November 1787 was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he gained prominence at the Habsburg court at Vienna. He composed a series of new works in the 1760s, among them were Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste. Gluck introduced more drama by using simpler recitative and cutting the usually long da capo aria. His later operas have half the length of a typical baroque opera. He moved to Paris in November 1773. Fusing the traditions of Italian opera and the French (with rich chorus) into a unique synthesis, Gluck wrote eight operas for the Parisian stage. Iphigénie en Tauride (1779) is generally acknowledged to be his finest work. After the poor reception of his Echo et Narcisse (1779), he left Paris and returned to Vienna to live out the remainder of his life.