Iphigenia in Aulis
Athens Camerata on Period Instruments
Dates
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Time & Date
Information
Tickets
20, 25, 30, 40, 60 €
Concs 10, 15, 20 €
Surtitles
In french with greek surtitles
Introduction
Racine’s reworking of Euripides’ famous tragedy acquires a new dimension with the stirring music composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck and premiered in Paris in 1774.
Photo: Despina Spyrou
An opera by C.W. Gluck in three acts.
The Greek fleet is ready to set sail for Troy, but Artemis will not let them leave Aulis. The angry goddess has stated her condition: there will be no favourable winds until King Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter to her. Iphigenia accepts her tragic fate.
Euripides’ famous tragedy acquires a new dimension with Christoph Willibald Gluck’s stirring music. Gluck left Vienna for Paris in 1774 as a protégé of Maria Antoinette, and it was here that he first presented "Iphigenia in Aulis", his opera based on Racine’s tragedy which had been inspired in turn by Euripides. The great success of “Iphigenia” in the French capital would usher in a new operatic era. Dramatically and musically ahead of its time, it verged on the aesthetic and ideals of Romanticism; indeed, Richard Wagner, a great admirer of Gluck, would stage a slightly revised version of the opera in 1847 with a few new additions.
The conductor George Petrou and the charismatic director and set designer Paris Mexis essay a new and impressive approach to Iphigenia’s tragedy, while the Camerata brings Gluck’s larger-than-life score to life with the authentic sound of period instruments. The lead roles are shared among select baroque specialists who regularly perform in the world’s greatest opera houses.
