Iphigénie en Tauride by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714 – 1787)

Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, before sailing off to the Trojan War, angers Artemis – the Roman Diana, the Goddess of the Hunt – because he killed a deer in the sacred woods. As a punishment, the goddess claims Iphigenia’s sacrifice, the king’s oldest daughter. This will be the only way for Artemis to grant favourable winds which will lead the Greek fleet to the battle. At the very last moment, the goddess replaces Iphigenia for a doe and sends her to Tauris – more precisely to Taurica, territory so named by Greeks and Romans and situated in the present Crimean peninsula – where she will be reunited with her brother Orestes. Iphigenia, the ultimate embodiment of the filial sacrifice, inspired Euripides for his tragedy Iphigenia in Tauris which was written between 414 and 412 BC. The plot was later object of various dramatic versions such as the one written by Racine in 1674. Almost one hundred years

Conductor | David Peter Bates

Director | James Darrah

Set and Light designer | Emily MacDonald and Cameron Mock

Costumes | Chrisi Karvonides

Iphigénie | Alexandra Deshorties

Oreste | William Berger

Pylade | Colin Ainsworth

Thoas | John Moore

First Priestess | Sónia Alcobaça

Second Priestess | Maria Luísa Tavares

Priest | Carlos Pedro Santos

Um Cita | Carlos Silva

Coro do Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
Principal Conductor | Giovanni Andreoli

Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa
Principal Conductor | Joana Carneiro

New Production | TNSC