Iphigénie en Aulide (Iphigeneia inAulis) is an opera in three acts byChristoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. Thelibretto was written byFrançois-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet and was based onJean Racine's tragedyIphigénie, itself based on the playIphigenia in Aulis byEuripides. It was premiered on 19 April 1774 by theParis Opéra in the secondSalle du Palais-Royal and revived in a slightly revised version the following year.
A German version was made in 1847 byRichard Wagner, with significant alterations.
At first,Iphigénie was not popular, except for its overture which was applauded generously.[1] After the premiere, it was billed for three days in April 1774, but its first run was interrupted by the theatre's six-week closure due to the dying ofLouis XV.[1]Iphigénie en Aulide returned to the theatre on 10 January 1775, and was revived annually from 1776 to 1824 with a few exceptions. During that 50-year span from 1774 to 1824, it was performed in Paris more than 400 times,[1] and eventually turned out to be Gluck's most frequently performed opera in Paris.[2]
For the 1775 revival, "Gluck revisedIphigénie en Aulide ... introducing the goddessDiana (soprano) at the end of the opera as adea ex machina, and altering and expanding thedivertissements ... So, broadly speaking, there are two versions of the opera; but the differences are by no means so great or important as those betweenOrfeo ed Euridice andOrphée et Euridice or between the Italian and the FrenchAlceste".[3]
In 1847Richard Wagner presented a revised German version of Gluck's opera,Iphigenia in Aulis, at the court ofDresden. Wagner edited, re-scored and revised the opera significantly including a different ending and some other passages of his own composition. Wagner's version of the opera is available onEichhorn's 1972 LP recording starringAnna Moffo andDietrich Fischer-Dieskau,[4] and was also revived at the 1984Waterloo Festival withAlessandra Marc as Iphigenia.[5] Wagner's finale translated back into French was also performed in the 2002/2003La Scala production conducted byRiccardo Muti.[6]
Iphigénie en Aulide was first performed in the United States on 22 February 1935 at theAcademy of Music,Philadelphia. The fully staged production was presented by thePhiladelphia Orchestra and conductorAlexander Smallens. Directed byHerbert Graf, it used sets byNorman Bel Geddes and starredGeorges Baklanoff as Agamemnon,Cyrena van Gordon as Clytemnestre,Rosa Tentoni as Iphigénie,Joseph Bentonelli as Achille, andLeonard Treash as Patrocle.
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| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 19 April 1774[7] Conductor:Louis-Joseph Francœur) (Choreograph:Gaétan Vestris) |
|---|---|---|
| Agamemnon,King ofMycenae | baritone | Henri Larrivée |
| Clitemnestre (Clytemnestra),his wife | soprano | Françoise-Claude-Marie-Rosalie Campagne (called Mlle Duplant) |
| Iphigénie (Iphigenia),their daughter | soprano | Sophie Arnould |
| Achille (Achilles),aGreek hero | haute-contre | Joseph Legros |
| Patrocle (Patroclus) | bass | Durand |
| Calchas,the High Priest | bass | Nicolas Gélin |
| Arcas | bass | Beauvalet |
| Three Greek women | sopranos | Marie-Françoise de Beaumont d'Avantois;Rosalie Levasseur (other performer unknown) |
| A Lesbian slave woman | soprano | Mlle Chateauneuf |
| Greek soldiers and people; Thessalian warriors; women from Argos; women from Aulis; men, women and slaves from Lesbos; priestesses ofDiana:[8] choir | ||
Ballet[9] ballerinas:Marie-Madeleine Guimard,Marie Allard,Anna Heinel, Peslin;male dancers:Gaétan Vestris,Maximilien Gardel | ||
Calchas, the great seer, prophesies that King Agamemnon must sacrifice his own daughter, Iphigenia, in order to guarantee fair winds for the king's fleet en route toTroy –- a demand that comes from the goddess Diana herself. Throughout the opera, Agamemnon struggles with the terrible choice between sparing his daughter's life and ensuring his subjects' welfare.
Agamemnon summons his daughter toAulis, the port where the Greek navy is gathering, ostensibly for her to marry Achilles, the great warrior hero. Then, reconsidering his decision to sacrifice her, the king tries to prevent her arriving with the fabricated explanation that Achilles has been unfaithful. Iphigenia, however, has already reached the Greek camp accompanied by her mother Clytemnestra. The two women are dismayed and angered by Achilles' apparent inconstancy, but he eventually enters declaring his enduring love for the girl, and the first act ends with a tender scene of reconciliation.
The wedding ceremony is due to be celebrated and festivities take place with dances and choruses. When the couple are about to proceed to the temple, however, Arcas, the captain of Agamemnon's guards, reveals that the king is awaiting his daughter before the altar in order to kill her. Achilles and Clytemnestra rush to save the girl from being sacrificed. Agamemnon finally seems to give up his plan to kill her.
The third act opens with a chorus of Greeks: they object to the king's decision in case they are never allowed to reach Troy, and demand the ceremony be celebrated. At this point, Iphigenia resigns herself to her fate, and offers her own life for the sake of her people, while Clytemnestra entreats the vengeance ofJupiter upon the ruthless Greeks. As the sacrifice is going to be held, however, Achilles bursts in with his warriors and the opera concludes with Gluck's most significant revision of the original myth: Calchas' voice rises over the general turmoil and announces that Diana has changed her mind about the sacrifice and consents to the marriage. In the second 1775 version Diana appears personally to consecrate both the wedding and Agamemnon's voyage.
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