History

Greek troops have gathered at Aulis to go to war against Troy. However, the wind dies down and the fleet cannot leave the harbour. Army commander Agamemnon learns from a seer that the lull is due to the anger of the goddess Diana. She is demanding a peace offering from him: he must kill his daughter Iphigenia. Agamemnon makes Iphigenia come to Aulis and brings her to the sacrificial block. At the last minute, Diana saves the girl, and Agamemnon sacrifices a deer in her place. Iphigenia disappears; all believe she is dead and no one knows that she lives on as Diana’s priestess in Tauris.

First act

A thunderstorm breaks out. The priestesses beg the gods to stop forcing them to make human sacrifices. Although the storm passes, Iphigenia remains restless. She has dreamt of her family the previous night: her father Agamemnon was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra, who then wanted to persuade Iphigenia to kill her own brother Orestes. Thoas, prince of Tauris and king of the Scythians, demands that Iphigenia make new human sacrifices. He learns from an oracle that he will one day be killed by a stranger. Afraid of death, he orders all strangers who henceforth wash up on the coast of Tauris to be killed. He also wants two young Greeks recently found on the coast to be sacrificed. No one suspects that they are Iphigenia’s brother Orestes and his friend Pylades.

Second act

Orestes is tormented by guilt. He has killed his mother and now feels responsible because his only friend will accompany him in death. Pylades, for his part, finds comfort in the thought that he will be buried with Orestes. The two prisoners are separated. Orestes, left alone, is tormented in his sleep by the goddesses of vengeance, the Eumenides. He is startled when his dead mother appears to him. On awakening, he sees Iphigenia, who comes to question her captor. She wishes to know where he is from and learns that, like her, he is from Mycenae. When she asks about the royal family, she learns that Agamemnon was killed by Clytemnestra and that her brother took revenge on his mother for that murder. Orestes himself is also dead and only Iphigenia’s sister Elektra is still alive in Mycenae. Iphigenia is desperate because her premonitions have come true: her family has been slaughtered and she can expect nothing more from Orestes.

Third act

Iphigenia plans to defy Thoas’ will by sacrificing only one of the two prisoners. The other must hasten to Mycenae with a letter for her sister Elektra. After much hesitation, Iphigenia decides to sacrifice Pylades. Orestes feels denied, as he wishes to die and be free of his torments. He forces Iphigenia to go back on her decision. She gives the letter for Electra to Pylades who, left alone, vows to save his friend.

Fourth act

Iphigenia is apprehensive about the sacrifice, while Orestes sees his death as a liberation. Iphigenia’s compassion moves him. As the young woman prepares to kill him, Orestes laments that he must die the same sacrificial death that killed his sister Iphigenia. Brother and sister recognise each other. Thoas understands Iphigenia’s betrayal and demands that the victim be immediately killed. That Orestes is Iphigenia’s brother does not concern him. Thoas snatches the knife to kill them himself, but Pylades, who has returned, intervenes and stabs the king. Unrest threatens, until the goddess Diana appears and proclaims the will of the gods: Orestes is freed from guilt and returns to Mycenae with Iphigenia.

Rehearsalpictureseelden ©Annemie Augustijns