Iphigénie en Aulide
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| Title: | Iphigenia in Aulis |
| Original title: | Iphigénie en Aulide |
| Shape: | Opera in three acts |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Christoph Willibald Gluck |
| Libretto : | François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet |
| Literary source: | Jean Racine : Iphigénie |
| Premiere: | April 19, 1774 |
| Place of premiere: | Paris Opera |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | In the Greek army camp on the beach at Aulis in Boeotia, before the outbreak of the Trojan War |
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Iphigénie en Aulide ( German Iphigenie in Aulis ) is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on a libretto by François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet based on Jean Racine's tragedy Iphigénie (1674). The first performance took place on April 19, 1774 under the direction of the composer in the Paris Opera . The opera deals with material from Greek mythology about the Greek military leader Agamemnon and his daughter Iphigénie .
action
The Greek army of Agamemnon is held on Aulis by unfavorable winds. In return for the release of his army, the oracle of the goddess Diana demands the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenie . Agamemnon tries desperately to evade this obligation, but his daughter is ready to die in the service of the cause of the fatherland. Finally, the goddess is reconciled to Iphigenie's obedience and renounces the sacrifice.
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwind : two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : two horns , two trumpets
- Timpani
- Strings
Work history
Iphigénie en Aulide is the first of six operas that Christoph Willibald Gluck had agreed with the Paris Opera Management. Gluck's Paris period was a time of heated public controversy between supporters of Italian and French opera , the "French" adopting the reformer Gluck as their representative, although he had been particularly successful with operas in the Italian style up to that point. Gluck himself never took an active part in this debate on principles.
As usual, Gluck took the rehearsals for the premiere very seriously. The French artists first had to get used to the harsh tone of the self-confident German composer, who didn't spare criticism of performance, singing and orchestra. Johann Christian von Mannlich reports: “Your French vanity was deeply injured by all of these remarks that you had to be told by a German master […] These [singers and musicians] seriously considered themselves the world's first virtuosos. During these noisy lessons, called rehearsals, his loyal companion tried to keep his upsurge and Germanic openness within the right bounds. ”Finally, Gluck prevailed among the artists.
The Parisian public interested in the opera had also learned of the turbulence during the rehearsals and so interest in the premiere was correspondingly high. The performance was a complete success, and Gluck's patron Marie Antoinette reported enthusiastically to Vienna: "You can't talk about anything else, you fight each other at court and in the city for the sake of this piece as if it were a religious matter."
literature
- Anna Amalie Abert: Christoph Willibald Gluck , publishing house Bong & Co, Munich 1959
Web links
- Iphigénie en Aulide : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Iphigénie en Aulide (Christoph Willibald Gluck) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Libretto from fr at Opera-Guide target page currently unavailable due to URL change
Individual evidence
- ^ Klaus Hortschansky: Iphigénie en Aulide. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater. Vol. 2. Works. Donizetti - Henze. Piper, Munich and Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-492-02412-2 , pp. 449-453.
- ^ Johann Christian von Mannlich: Rococo and Revolution. Mittler, Berlin 1913, p. 254 ( online ).