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Christoph illibald Gluck, in the Apotheosis of Homer
'Iphigénie en Tauride' is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. The French libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard. It was first performed in Paris on May 18, 1779.
Two years later, in 1781, as his last work for the stage, Gluck produced a German version of the opera, Iphigenia auf Tauris, for the visit of the Russian Grand Duke Paul to Vienna, with the libretto translated and adapted by Johann Baptist von Alxinger in collaboration with the composer. However, this somewhat altered version has generally been seen as inferior to the 1779 Paris version, which has been the version usually performed and recorded.
With Iphigénie, Gluck took his operatic reform to its logical conclusion. There are no longer any recitatives, only dramatic scenes interspersed with arioso-like structures. The drama is based on the play Iphigeneia in Tauris by the ancient Greek dramatist Euripides which deals with Greek mythological stories concerning the family of Agamemnon in the aftermath of the Trojan War.
The borrowings Gluck made in this, his last significant opera, are numerous, and many scholars feel that they constitute a "summing up" of the artistic ideals he pursued throughout his career as a composer. Most of the reused music is his own, culled from his earlier, Italian-language operas or from his ballet Don Juan (1761). The Act II music for the Furies, for example, adapts music from Gluck's ballet. In at least one case, however, an aria in Iphigénie en Tauride is actually Gluck borrowing from himself borrowing from Johann Sebastian Bach; the Act IV number for Iphigenia, "Je t'implore et je tremble," is a parody of "Perchè, se tanti siete" from Gluck's Antigono, which in turn uses material from the Gigue of the Partita no. 1 in B Flat (BWV 825) by Bach.
Iphigénie en Tauride is part of the standard operatic repertoire.
Plot synopsis
Act I begins in the entrance hall of the temple of Diana as a great storm rages. Iphigenia, sister of Orestes, is the high priestess of Diana, having been transported here magically by the goddess when her father Agamemnon attempted to offer her as a sacrifice. Iphigenia and her priestesses beg all the gods to protect them from the storm. Although it dies down, Iphigenia remains troubled by a dream she has had, in which she envisioned her mother Clytemnestra murdering her father, and then her own hand stabbing her brother. Thoas, King of Tauris, enters, himself obsessed with dark thoughts; the oracles, he tells her, predict doom for him if a single stranger escapes with his life. (The custom of the Scythians, who inhabit Tauris, is to ritually sacrifice any who are shipwrecked on their shores.) A chorus of Scythians comes bringing news of two young Greeks who have just been found shipwrecked, demanding their blood. After Iphigenia and the priestesses depart, Thoas brings in the Greeks, who turn out to be Orestes and his friend Pylades. After asking them for what purpose they came (they have come to retrieve Diana's statue and return it to Greece, though they do not divulge this), Thoas promises them death and has them taken away.
As Act II begins, Orestes and Pylades languish in chains. Orestes berates himself for causing the death of his dear friend, but Pylades assures him that he does not feel dispirited because they will die united. A minister of the sanctuary comes to remove Pylades, and as Orestes falls asleep, he is tormented by visions of the Furies, who wish to avenge his slaying of his mother (whom Orestes slew for murdering her husband Agamemnon). Iphigenia enters, and although the two do not recognize each other, Orestes sees an astonishing likeness between her and the slain Clytemnestra seen in his dream. She questions him further, asking him the fate of Agamemnon and all Greece, and he tells her of Agamemnon's murder by his wife, and the wife's murder by her son. In agitation, she asks of the fate of the son, and Orestes says that the son found the death he had long sought, and that only their sister Electra remains alive. Iphigenia sends Orestes away and with her priestesses laments the destruction of her country and the supposed death of her brother.
In Act III, Iphigenia determines to save at least one of the two captives, though because Thoas demands blood, she knows both cannot be spared. She summons Orestes and Pylades and asks if whichever one is spared will carry word to her home of Argos with news of her fate to her sister Electra. Both men readily agree, and Iphigenia chooses Orestes to go. But on her exit, Orestes insists that Pylades agree to switch places with him as Orestes cannot bear the thought of his friend's death; Pylades, on the contrary, is glad at the thought of dying so Orestes can live. When Iphigenia returns, Orestes insists that she reverse her decision, threatening to kill himself before her eyes if she does not. Reluctantly, she agrees to spare Pylades instead and sends him to carry her message to Electra. Everyone but Pylades departs, and he closes the act by promising to do everything possible to save Orestes.
Act IV opens with Iphigenia wondering how she can ever carry out the killing of the remaining Greek (Orestes), since somehow her soul shrinks from the thought of it. The priestesses bring in Orestes, who has been prepared for sacrifice. He tells her not to lament him, but to strike, telling her it is the will of the gods. While she wields the knife, Orestes exclaims Iphigenia's name, leading her and the priestesses to recognize him and stop the ritual slaughter. The happy reunion of sister and brother is cut short at news that Thoas is coming, having heard that one of the captives was released and intent on the blood of the other. The king enters wildly, ordering his guards to seize Orestes and promising to sacrifice both him and his sister. At that moment Pylades enters with a band of Greeks, cutting down Thoas where he stands. The resulting rout of the Scythians by the Greeks is halted by a deus ex machina appearance of Diana, who commands the Scythians to restore her statue to Greece. She also issues pardon to Orestes for murdering his mother, sending him to be king over Mycenae and bidding him restore Iphigenia to her country. As Diana is carried back into the clouds, everyone sings a concluding chorus of rejoicing at having the favor of earth and heaven restored to them.
Recommended Recordings
- Iphigénie en Tauride performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre under the direction of Marc Minkowski, with Mireille Delunsch (Iphigénie), Simon Keenlyside (Oreste), and Yann Beuron (Pylade). Archiv 471 133-2.
- Gluck: Dreams and Fables. Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano; Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin; Bernhard Forck, leader. Decca 289 467 248-2. (Includes the scene "Berenice, che fai?" from Antigono, whose aria "Perchè, se tanti siete"--mentioned above--was revised by Gluck for Iphigénie en Tauride.)
Both recordings include extensive liner notes, and the first includes the libretto and translation of the opera; all of these provided source material for the biographical data above and for the plot summary.
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