Niccòlo Piccinni - Iphigénie En Tauride (1986)

Iphigénie en Tauride (Iphigeneia in Tauris) is a tragédie lyrique in four acts by Niccolò Piccinni, which was first performed at the Académie royale de musique (the Paris Opéra) on January 23, 1781. The opera’s libretto, by Alphonse du Congé Dubreuil, is based on a play of the same name by Claude Guimond de la Touche, although the ultimate source was the tragedy Iphigeneia in Tauris by Euripides. This opera marked the climax of the quarrel between the supporters of Piccinni and those of Christoph Willibald Gluck. Piccinni had been brought to Paris in the mid-1770s as a rival to the German composer, who had already had great success with his operas there. Arguments about the respective merits of their heroes raged between “Gluckists” and “Piccinnists”, although the composers themselves showed less enthusiasm for the fight. When Gluck learned that Piccinni was setting the same libretto to Roland as he was, he abandoned work on his score. For his part, Piccinni was an admirer of Gluck’s music and was reluctant to challenge him. Nevertheless, in 1778 the director of the Paris Opéra, De Vismes du Valgay, finally succeeded in arranging a direct confrontation when he persuaded both composers to write an opera on the same story, but not the same libretto: Iphigénie en Tauride. Piccinni accepted on condition that his version was staged first. In the event, problems with the quality of the libretto (and, possibly, backstage political manoeuvrings) meant that Gluck’s opera was the first to receive its premiere in May, 1779. Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride was immediately acclaimed as a masterpiece. The success of his rival caused Piccinni to delay his own opera even further and it was not until a year and a half later that it was finally presented to a Parisian audience. The reaction was lukewarm, although a revival in 1785 was received more favourably.

Orchestra E Coro Dell'Ente Artisitico Teatro Petruzzelli
Donato Renzetti: conductor
Silvia Baleani: Iphigénie
René Massis: Oreste
Aldo Bertolo: Pilade
Alberto Noli: Thoas
Lucia Naviglio: Diane
Lucio Gallo: Scithe
Rosa Ginaldi: Elise
Lucilla Bottalico: La prêtresse

cd1:
01. Ouverture (7:32)
02. Act 1 (Scene I) – “O jour fatal!” (2:01)
03. Act 1 (Scene II) – “Jeune et belle princesse!” (1:28)
04. Act 1 (Scene II) – “Pour adoucir mes maux” (1:57)
05. Act 1 (Scene II) – “Diane! Suspends ton courroux” (2:01)
06. Act 1 (Scene III) – “A mes peines sensible” (1:28)
07. Act 1 (Scene III) – “A la triste clarte” (2:01)
08. Act 1 (Scene III) – “Mais tout-a-coup le Ciel est sans nuage” (3:29)
09. Act 1 (Scene IV) – “De Diane en ce jour” (1:21)
10. Act 1 (Scene V) – “Mon Peuple, qui me croit heureux” (2:30)
11. Act 1 (Scene V) – “Quelle epaisse vapeur” (3:41)
12. Act 1 (Scene VI) – “Les Dieux ne sont point courrouces” (0:51)
13. Act 1 (Scene VI) – “Vous nous envoyez des victimes” (3:40)
14. Act 2 (Scene I) – “O sort funeste!” (3:49)
15. Act 2 (Scene II) – “Quel moment pour mon coeur sensible!” (4:11)
16. Act 2 (Scene II) – “Fais eclater la foudre” (1:58)
17. Act 2 (Scene III) – “Arretez, rendez-vous, ennemis de nos Dieux!” (2:42)
18. Act 2 (Scene IV) – “Dieux tout-puissants!” (4:00)
cd2:
01. “Ah! barbare Thoas!” (5:38)
02. “Etrangers, que je plains” (2:50)
03. “Son fils… il a venge son pere.” (0:43)
04. “Qu’est devenu ce fils?” (0:53)
05. “Eh! Que reste-ti-il donc… ?” (2:05)
06. “O jour fatal!” (2:58)
07. “Au trepas tous les deux… ” (1:19)
08. “O moment cher a ma tendresse!” (0:44)
09. “Cruel! et tu dis que tu m’aimes?” (4:04)
10. “Je t’aime plus que moi” (2:31)
11. “Non, ne l’espere pas… ” (1:07)
12. “Mon coeur se fie a votre zele” (3:08)
13. “Si mon coeur ressent leurs alarmes” (5:59)
14. “On va conduire ici la victime innocente.” (4:30)
15. “Pour votre mort en ces lieux tout s’apprete” (3:27)
16. “Quel bonheur!” (2:13)
17. V) – “Que vois-je!” (2:04)
18. VII) – “Ah! pour nous le Ciel de declare” (2:17)
19. IX) – “J’abolis a jamais l’usage” (1:22)
20. IX) – “Quittez cet horrible rivage” (3:20)

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