Iphigenie

Ein Mann will wissen, wie die Welt funktioniert. Er will sie beherrschen können. Die Erkenntnis der eigenen Schwäche, der Pakt mit dem Teufel, der glänzende Aufstieg und der schreckliche Fall anhand von Motiven aus verschiedenen literarischen Quellen wird die unglaubliche Biografie des Wittenberger Doktors vorgestellt. Nur eine alte Geschichte? Oder so aktuell wie Cyborgs und Klonschafe?

The Classical Opera Company was founded in 1997 by conductor Ian Page. It specialises in the music of Mozart and his contemporaries, performing with its own period-instrument orchestra, and is emerging as one of Britains most exciting and highly regarded young arts organisations. It has attracted considerable critical and public acclaim, not only for the high quality of its performances but also for its imaginative programming and, in particular, its ability to discover and nurture outstanding young singers.

In spite of the French title, and the conductor known for his interest in period performance, this is not the French Orphee et Eurydice of 1774; it is a different 'period version', the period in question being not Gluck's but that of Berlioz (or, as we shall see, nearly so). In 1859, Berlioz, always a passionate admirer of Gluck, prepared a version of the opera for the contralto Pauline Viardot. The alto version of the opera was of course the original Italian one, of 1762, for a castrato, but Berlioz wanted to incorporate some of the changes Gluck had made in 1774 and to use a French text. His compromise version has served as the basis for most revivals of the opera, in whatever language, from then until relatively recent times, though its four-act structure has rarely been followed.