Iphigénie
en Aulide was Gluck’s first opera
for Paris in 1774; the first of a group
of works in which he successfully merged
the beautiful simplicity of his reform
operas (Orfeo, Alceste
and Paride ed Elena). These three
abandoned secco recitative in favour
of a continuous texture uniting orchestral
recitative, aria, arioso and dance;
also Gluck strove to produce simpler,
more direct drama which reflected human
emotions and omitted the grosser form
of virtuoso display common in baroque
opera.
It was a success at
its first performance and Gluck’s absorption
of the elements of French tragédie
lyrique reinvigorated his talent.
Granted, the libretto to Iphigénie
en Aulide is rather lacking. The
first Act is mainly concerned with scene
setting, but once the drama gets going
in Act 2 - when Agamemnon announces
that Iphigénie is going to the
altar to be sacrificed not married -
then the opera is utterly absorbing.
The plot, involving
as it does Agamemnon’s dysfunctional
family, plays out political events on
a small, intimate family stage; so it
is ideal for Gluck’s concern to show
human level emotions.
These excerpts come
from John Eliot Gardiner’s complete
recording of the work, first issued
on Erato in 1990; it is part of a group
of recordings of Gluck operas which
Gardiner made with the Lyon Opera Orchestra.
So, though the conductor and singers
may have excellent period performance
credentials the orchestra plays on modern
instruments, albeit in a period-inflected
way.
Gardiner has a well
chosen cast. Jose van Dam is incomparable
as Agamemnon. Stanley Sadie, reviewing
the original recording in the Gramophone,
though that van Dam rather underplayed
things in the opening scene, but to
me his style seems just right as the
drama unfolds slowly. Anne Sofie von
Otter is on wonderful form as the rather
tempestuous Clytemnestra and brings
real force to her final outburst, ‘Ma
fille’, when she imagines that her daughter
is going to the altar.
As their daughter,
Iphigénie, Lynne Dawson sounds
authentically French, even to her rather
sharp-toned soprano. She is intense
and moving in the role and is adroitly
stylish but I am not sure that she is
ideal. As her lover Achille, John Aler
has the unenviable task of articulating
one of these impossibly high French
tenor parts. Achille needs to blend
heroics, grace and ardency and Aler
does this remarkably convincingly. Given
the tessitura of the part it would be
too easy to make Achille a simpering
sap, or to bray the music; Aler does
neither and his entire performance is
creditable. I must confess, though,
that I thought that his tone sounded
rather as if he was perpetually surprised.
Others may disagree and anyway, it is
a small price to play for stylish singing.
Stanley Sadie, in the
Gramophone, found Gardiner's performance
a little hectic at times. What I missed,
on this recording, was the sort of neoclassical
intensity that a performer such as Régine
Crespin brought to Gluck's other Iphigénie.
The opera has been
well filleted for these highlights,
its duration reduced from 132 minutes
to 74 minutes. As ever with this series,
the liner notes are rather brief and
they do not really link the plot to
the individual tracks. This is acceptable
with highlights from a well known opera,
but with one such as Iphigénie
en Aulide some additional help would
be welcome.
This remains the main
contender for recommendation for this
opera. Anyone who does not possess this
work on disc might like to consider
these highlights if they can’t run to
a complete recording. But whichever
you choose, this is an essential opera
for your collection.
Robert Hugill
Monteverdi Choir 
