Iphigénie en Aulide & Iphigénie en Tauride

Lead Donor of the GNO & Production donor

Major Sponsor

The production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

The Greek National Opera opens the 2024/25 season with an exceptional international co-production that redefines the boundaries of opera. The leading Russian director of our time Dmitri Tcherniakov will present both Iphigénies by Gluck in one evening. The journey will start at the esteemed European opera festival of Aix-en-Provence, continue through the Greek National Opera, and conclude at the Opéra national de Paris.

The double bill presentation of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s two operas aims to shed light on the core of the Atreides curse, which perpetuates a never-ending cycle of violence. How does the victim in Aulis become the executioner in Tauris? This is the earthshaking question posed by Dmitri Tcherniakov, as he seeks to find the answers in a family hearth haunted by its dead, through a relentlessly evolving process of dehumanisation with modern-day implications. To illustrate the tragic fate of the Atreides myth, which has turned domestic violence into a universal experience, Tcherniakov selects a house without a specific time period as his stage set – a structure that at times appears opaque and at other times absolutely transparent.

Iphigénie en Aulide and Iphigénie en Tauride –two of the most significant operas of the classicism period, written during the last quarter of the 18th century– led to Christoph Willibald Gluck’s emergence as the “reformer” of opera. The two pieces move away from the world of Baroque opera seria, characterised by extensive independent arias and embellished musical compositions that famous performers used to showcase their skills. Gluck introduced a new, dramatic style, where the libretto and its enunciation hold major significance. His works consist of larger musical movements, as the music transitions seamlessly from one movement to the next. The orchestra has an enhanced role, not just accompanying the voices, but also illuminating the meaning of the words and highlighting the emotions of the main characters. The two operas are not directly based on Euripides’ works, but on French 18th-century texts: Racine’s Iphigénie en Aulide and Claude Guymond de la Touche’s Iphigénie en Tauride. Gluck composed Iphigénie en Aulide without having received a commission, but still managed to present it in Paris in 1774, scoring huge success. The composer produced many more operas for the French capital, before turning his attention to Iphigénie en Tauride, which was first performed in 1779.

Tcherniakov is considered one of the most influential directors of our time. He has been awarded the most prestigious opera prizes not only for his stage direction but also for his scenography work. Exceptionally prolific and inspired, he has received rave reviews for all of his productions, staged in various venues across the world, including the Mariinsky and Bolshoi Theatres, the State Operas of Berlin, Bavaria, and Vienna, La Scala in Milan, Opéra national de Paris, English National Opera, New York Metropolitan Opera, the Bayreuth and Aix-en-Provence Festivals, and more. He closely collaborates with some of the top conductors of our times, such as Teodor Currentzis, Daniel Barenboim, Kent Nagano, Philippe Jordan, Alain Altinoglu, and others.

Famous for his consistent guidance of the singers’ stage performance and his insistence on having the first and final word in cast selection, he has chosen the great American soprano Corinne Winters to perform both Iphigénies, in a unique vocal and stage challenge. Alongside her performing will be the internationally acclaimed opera protagonists Tassis Christoyannis, Véronique Gens, Dionysios Sourbis, Alexandre Duhamel, and Stanislas de Barbeyrac.