Gluck's Two Iphigénie Operas Will Open The GNO's 2024/25 Season

The 2024/25 season of the Greek National Opera commences with a significant artistic challenge. Gluck’s two famous operas based on the ancient Greek legend of Iphigenia –Iphigénie en Aulide and Iphigénie en Tauride– will be presented together for the first time in a double bill, with sets and stage direction by the renowned Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov, and conducted by Michael Hofstetter, the artistic director of the International Gluck Festival.

The highly anticipated international co-production of the Greek National Opera, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Opéra national de Paris –which was honoured with the “New Production” award at the 2024 International Opera Awards– will be presented on 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 27 and 30 October 2024, at 18.00, in the Stavros Niarchos Hall at the SNFCC. The role of Iphigenia in both operas will be sung by the renowned American soprano Corinne Winters, who has received rave reviews from leading media outlets worldwide for her outstanding performance. This 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 production, that “follows the trail of blood through the impact of war, the tribute to the dead, the deep trauma, the amputation of the flesh, and the ripping apart of the soul” (Le Monde) received an exceptionally successful premiere in July at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in southern France, enthralling audiences who rewarded it with a prolonged standing ovation. According to the New York Times review, “the bitterly melancholy production reflected Gluck’s sobriety […] – a brooding reflection on the numbness of endless conflict.” Their success and global impact were confirmed on the evening of October 2nd in Munich when Tcherniakov’s production of Iphigénies received the prestigious “New Production” award at the 2024 International Opera Awards.

Furthermore, at the 2024 International Opera Awards, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) was honoured with the prestigious “Philanthropy” award for its longstanding support of the Greek National Opera’s efforts to expand its international outreach –including the recent two-year grant of 11,000,000 euros, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) grants to the GNO will have reached 39,000,000 euros by 2026–, as well as for the creation of its new home at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC).

The great visionary 18th-century composer Christoph Willibald Gluck composed these two remarkable operas based on the curse of the House of Atreus, setting to music French 18th-century plays inspired by Euripides’ tragedies of the same name. In his new ambitious endeavour, Dmitri Tcherniakov presents the two operas about Agamemnon and Clytemnestra’s daughter together against the backdrop of the cycle of the Trojan War’s endless violence. And the question he raises is: “How can Iphigenia in Aulis be the victim and then, a few years later, become the executioner in Tauris?” The answers are sought 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 created a stage set that represents a house without a specific time period – a structure that sometimes appears opaque and, at other times, absolutely transparent.

In the opera Iphigénie en Aulide, the goddess Diana/Artemis demands the sacrifice of Iphigenia, daughter of the Mycenaean King Agamemnon, so that the winds become favourable and the Greek fleet may set out on its journey to Troy.

In the opera Iphigénie en Tauride –almost twenty years later– Iphigenia sees a nightmare where her mother Clytemnestra is murdering Agamemnon, and she herself is killing her brother Orestes. When the Scythian King, Thoas, arrives, alarmed by a prophecy predicting his death at the hands of a foreigner, he commands that all foreigners who arrive in Tauris be put to death.

Iphigénie en Aulide and Iphigénie en Tauride led to Christoph Willibald Gluck’s emergence as a “reformer” of opera and are considered two of the most significant operas of the classicism period. The composer introduced a new, dramatic style where the libretto and its enunciation hold major significance. The orchestra has an enhanced role, not just accompanying the voices but also illuminating the meaning of the words and highlighting the main characters’ emotions. The two operas are based on French 18th-century texts: Racine’s play Iphigénie en Aulide and Claude Guimond de la Touche’s tragedy Iphigénie en Tauride.

Born in Moscow, Dmitri 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 time, such as Teodor Currentzis, Daniel Barenboim, Kent Nagano, Philippe Jordan, Alain Altinoglu, and others. The dramaturgy carries Tatiana Werestchagina’s signature, with Elena Zaytseva in charge of the costumes and Gleb Filshtinsky responsible for the lighting.

The Orchestra of the Greek National Opera will be conducted by the acclaimed German conductor and academic Michael Hofstetter, who will be collaborating with the GNO for the first time. Since January 2020, he has been the Artistic Director of the International Gluck Festival in Nuremberg. For more than thirty years, he has collaborated with various opera companies and music festivals across the globe. These include the Salzburg, Handel, and Karlsruhe Festivals, and performances in cities such as Houston, London, Copenhagen, Oslo, Toronto, Hamburg, Hannover, Stuttgart, Munich, and Paris, among others.

The great American soprano Corinne Winters will perform both Iphigenias in a unique vocal and stage challenge, marking her first collaboration with the Greek National Opera. The famous soprano has performed over thirty roles at the world’s most prestigious opera houses. Her outstanding performance in terms of vocal skills and stage presence in Gluck’s two Iphigénies received rave reviews from leading media outlets worldwide and a genuine standing ovation from opera enthusiasts who filled the performances at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.  

Making his debut in the role of Agamemnon will be the internationally acclaimed Greek baritone Tassis Christoyannis. Clytemnestra will be portrayed by the renowned French soprano Véronique Gens, who is considered one of the top performers in both Mozartian and French repertoires. The role of Orestes will be sung by the distinguished baritone from the GNO Dionysios Sourbis. The French baritone Alexandre Duhamel, who has been hailed as one of his generation’s most intriguing and talented singers, will perform as Thoas. The internationally acclaimed and multi-awarded French tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac will sing the role of Pylades. The English tenor Anthony Gregory, hailed for his unique timbre, stage presence, and musicality, will perform as Achilles.

The excellent cast will be completed by established and emerging opera singers Petros Magoulas, Maria Mitsopoulou, Nikolas Douros, Georgios Papadimitriou, and Soula Parassidis.

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