Information on the Performance

• Work Title: Iphigénie en Aulide or Iphigenia at Aulis  
• Composer: Gluck Christoph Willibald   
• Libretto: François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet and was based on Jean Racine's tragedy Iphigénie, itself based on the play Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
• Venue & Opera Company: Boutell Memorial Concert Hall in the NIU Music Building, DeKalb, IL  
• Recorded: March 27 & 29, 2026
• Type: Staged Opera Live
• Singers: Daniel Chukwunyem, Kayla Lockhart, Emily Kmetz, Joseph Quanor, Gunnar Magnuson
• Conductor: Maria Kurochkina  
• Orchestra: NIU Philharmonic Orchestra  
• Stage Director: David Tay  
• Costume Designer: Ski Sciaraffa  
• Lighting Designer: Emily Christianson  

Information about the Recording

• Published by: NIU School of Music  
• Date Published: 2026  
• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: nosubs  

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

  Synopsis

  Set in the Greek camp at Aulis, Iphigénie en Aulide centers on King Agamemnon’s impossible moral dilemma. The Greek fleet is ready to depart for Troy, but the winds have stopped, and the seer Calchas declares that the goddess Diana demands a terrible price: Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, before the army can sail.

  To bring her to Aulis, Agamemnon summons Iphigenia under the pretense of a wedding to Achilles. Horrified by what he has agreed to, he attempts to reverse course and sends word that Achilles has been unfaithful, hoping to keep her away. But Iphigenia has already arrived with her mother, Clytemnestra. Misunderstandings and emotional turmoil follow, until Achilles appears and reaffirms his love for Iphigenia.

  As preparations for the wedding unfold, celebration gives way to shock when the truth is revealed: Iphigenia has in fact been summoned to die, not to marry. Achilles and Clytemnestra try desperately to stop the sacrifice, and Agamemnon wavers under the weight of his duty as both king and father.

  In the final act, the conflict expands beyond the royal family. The Greek army demands that the sacrifice proceed so that the voyage to Troy can begin, while Iphigenia ultimately accepts her fate and offers her life for the sake of her people. At the last moment, however, Gluck departs from the darker versions of the myth: just as violence seems inevitable, Diana relents, the sacrifice is canceled, and Iphigenia is allowed to marry Achilles instead.

  Blending private emotion with public duty, Iphigénie en Aulide explores the devastating cost of leadership, the tension between love and obligation, and the fragile boundary between human will and divine command.

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