Organization

Singer

Baritone

Bo Skovhus

Agamemnon

Soprano

Michelle Breedt

Clytemnestre

Myrtò Papatanasiu

Iphigénie

Tenor

Paul Groves

Achille

Bass

Pavel Kudinov

Calchas

Conductor

Alessandro De Marchi

Stage director

Torsten Fischer

Set designer

Vasilis Triantafillopoulos

Herbert Schäfer

Costume designer

Dramaturge

Video designer

David Haneke

Edward Grint

Arcas

Zoltán Nagy

Patrocle

MusikTheater an der Wien

Orchestra

Vienna Symphony Orchestra

French

Iphigénie en Aulide -  (Iphigenia in Aulis)

Vienna

Austria

Theater an der Wien

Iphigenia in Aulis

German

Approved

IPHIGÉNIE EN AULIDE (Chr. W. Gluck)

Christoph Willibald Gluck was already 60 years old when he followed his student Maria Antonia, who had meanwhile become the Dauphine Marie Antoinette, to Paris. There he wanted to develop his idea of ​​international
reform opera with elements from French and Italian opera styles. In 1762 in Vienna he had presented the first work of this kind, Orfeo ed Euridice: words and music were supposed to
merge organically , clear beauty should speak to the heart.

The Trojan prince Pâris has stolen Hélène, wife of the Spartan king Ménélas. Because of this disgrace, the Greeks go to war against Troy. King Agamemnon of Mycenae collects the Greek fleet in Aulis. But since he has offended the goddess Diane, she causes a calm; the warships cannot leave. High priest Calchas announces that the goddess will only send the wind again if Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenie to her. Iphigénie was supposed to be married to Achille. Instead of the wedding feast there will now be an execution. Achilles, however, opposes the sacrifice of his bride. In King Agamemnon, father and war leader fight each other. When the belligerent people demand the victim louder and louder, Iphigenie agrees to her sacrifice. In Gluck's variant, the goddess Diane not only has an understanding of this humility and raptures Iphigénie to Tauris, according to mythology, but she also dismisses her entirely from her service. Iphigenie and Achille are allowed to marry before the heroes go out to fight.

By consciously breaking away from the vocal virtuosity of the Italian tradition, which has meanwhile become an end in itself, Gluck achieved a
previously unknown intensity in the musical interpretation of the characters: Agamemnon's torments, his inner conflict between love for a father and his duty as a military leader, are vividly portrayed. If
the premiere was received rather coldly, the Parisian public quickly recognized what was extraordinary about the work: tickets for the follow-up performances were soon only available on the black market.

English

Iphigenia in Aulis by Gluck, From (2012/2012), Directed by Torsten Fischer,, Conductor Alessandro De Marchi, Theater an der Wien, Vienna, Austria

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Programme, About & Synopsis

Videos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues