Iphigénie en Tauride

I am unfortunately one of those people that never saw a live performance. Seeing something live helps you appreciate the most minimal staging. So, I have nothing to compare and found this an obstruction when concentrating on the music and the story.

Based on a play" Iphigenia in Tauris" by Greek dramatist Euripides this presentation in four acts was composed by Christoph Willibald von Gluck (July 2, 1714 - November 15, 1787).

Even if this is your first foray into the presentation it would be good to know a little bit of the background so you would have an idea of what the people are trying to say or do. It is very difficult with this particular staging to just dive right in and understand what is going on.

At the beginning of the Trojan War, the goddess Diane had turned the wins against Agamemnon. To satisfy the goddess Diane Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter Iphigénie. However, Diane saved Iphigénie and delivered her to Tauride, where Iphigénie served the enemy Scythians as Diane's high priestess. The first act is 15 years after the incident and takes place during a storm that battered Diane's temple at Tauride.

You can look up the details ahead of time and then follow the presentation. I have to admit I needed the English subtitles. Maybe later I will not need them.

Gluck's most well-known is I think Orfeo Ed Eurydice, and for good reason, it is a wonderful opera with a classic story and really beautiful music. I however do find myself as of now more receptive to Iphigenie En Tauride, short but demanding, heart-rendingly moving, and very powerful to the point it is intense. And one mustn't dispute the music, which is simply sublime with a capital s. To have a performance of Iphigenie En Tauride on DVD is a dream come true, even more so when the performance is good. And that's exactly what this production is. Not everybody will be totally enamoured by the staging, but it matches the ambitions of Gluck's score very well and the idea to have the characters shadowed and the use of giant masks proved to make the opera even more moving than it already is, though understandably others will find it silly. It did strive to be a combination of music and theatre, it succeeded in my eyes. The costumes are sets are strikingly designed and advantaged by slick video directing and atmospheric lighting. I cannot fault it whatsoever musically, the orchestral playing is stylish and nuanced especially in the authentic-sounding string section, while William Christie has a clear love for the music as well as a sense of line and lyricism. The performances are wonderful. Deon Van Der Walt is an adept stylist and sings his heart out, while Anton Sharinger's voice is sonorous and characterful and Martina Janckova agile and intelligently characterised. Juliette Galstian is taxed by Iphigenie's lament, but her vocal line otherwise is crystal clear and pleasantly restrained and I found her acting very warm and sincere. The star is Rodney Gilfry, who sings beautifully with a sometimes rich, sometimes thrillingly steely tone, and has an aristocratic air that he conveys sympathetically rather than in a pompous way. The chemistry between the two alone make this production an emotionally intense experience. Overall, a really wonderful production of an equally wonderful opera. 10/10 Bethany Cox