Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) was a German composer of the pre-Classical era. He is regarded as one of the most significant opera composers of the second half of the 18th century. Gluck left behind around 50 operas as well as several ballets and instrumental works. Gluck's reform of opera also bore fruit in German opera, particularly in the works of Johann Christoph Vogel, Carl Maria von Weber, Heinrich Marschner, and Richard Wagner. An adaptation of Iphigénie en Aulide by Wagner, created in 1846/47, was the standard version of the opera for decades and was performed in numerous opera houses across Europe. Reprint of the original edition from 1884.