Ancient Greek theatre series Iphigenie en Tauride

The Embassy of Greece and the Washington National Opera:

Present a lecture with conductor William Lacey in anticipation of WNO premier of IphigenieenTauride

Iphigenie en Tauride composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck is one of the greatest operas from the classical period, and was also a hugely influential work. Mozart, Weber, Berlioz, Wagner and Richard Strauss were all inspired by the nobility and dramatic power of Gluck's masterpiece. In rejecting the decorative, repetitive style of Baroque opera in favour of a new purity and intensity of expression, Gluck was himself inspired by ancient Greek drama.

In this lecture, William Lacey investigates how Gluck's re-imagining of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles paved the way for the Romantic music-drama and the classic Greek heroine Ifigenia. Maestro Lacey, a regular conductor at leading opera houses around the world, brings extensive experience with operas of the Baroque and early Classical periods and will provide unique insight into the adaptation of Euripides’ work from Greek play to French opera.