Iphigénie en Aulide

• Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and commander of the Greeks against Troy (baritone )
• Clytemnestra, his wife (mezzo- soprano)
• Iphigénie, their daughter (Soprano)
• Achilles, king of Thessaly and fiance of Iphigénie (Tenor)
• Patroclus, Achilles' friend and leader of the Thessalians (baritone )
• Calchas, High Priest in the Temple of Diana ( bass)
• Arkas, captain of the guard Agamemnon ( bass)
• Artemis (soprano )
• Three Greek women ( sopranos )
• A Greek (Tenor)
• A Greek in the wake of Iphigenia (soprano )
• More

Iphigénie en Aulis is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, with a libretto by François- Louis Gand Le Bland You Roullet. The first performance took place under the baton of the composer in Paris on April 19, 1774. The opera is a substance of Greek mythology to the Greek commander Agamemnon and his daughter Iphigenia.

Iphigénie en Aulis is the first of six operas which Gluck has agreed with the Paris Opera Directorate. The Paris time Gluck is a time of fierce public dispute between supporters of Italian and French opera. Where the "French" the reformer Gluck as their representative collected, although this was previously just been particularly successful with operas in the Italian style. Gluck himself took on this principle - confrontation never an active part.

The rehearsals for the world premiere took Gluck, as usual, very seriously. Here, the French artist had to get used to the harsh tone of the self- conscious German composer who did not spare criticism of representation, voice and orchestra. Mannlich reports: " Your French vanity was utterly violated by all these comments it had to be by a German master, let's say ... These singers and musicians talked seriously for the first virtuosos of the world. His faithful companion was looking at those noisy lessons, called samples, to keep its upsurge and Germanic openness within bounds. " Finally, Gluck sat at the artists by.

The opera was interested Parisian public had learned from the turmoil in the samples and so was the interest in the premiere correspondingly large. The performance was a great success and the patroness Gluck Marie Antoinette enthusiastically reported to Vienna: " one can talk, you fight at court and in the city to this piece sake, as if it related to a religious matter of nothing else. "

Action

The Greek army of Agamemnon is fixed at Aulis by unfavorable winds. The oracle of the goddess Diana demanded in return for the release of his army, the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia. Agamemnon tries desperately to escape this obligation, but his daughter is ready in the service of the cause of his country to death. Finally, the goddess is reconciled by the obedience of Iphigenia and waives the victim.