Unfortunately the
libretto of 'Paride ed Elena,' though possessing great poetical merit,
is monotonous and deficient in incident, so that the opera has never won
the success which it deserves, and is now almost completely forgotten.
The admiration for the French school of opera which had been aroused in
Gluck by hearing the works of Rameau was not by any means a passing
fancy. His music proves that the French school had more influence upon
his development than the Italian, so it was only natural that he should
wish to have an opportunity of introducing his works to Paris. That
opportunity came in 1774, when, after weary months of intrigue and
disappointment, his 'Iphigene en Aulide' was produced at the Academie
Royale de Musique. After that time Gluck wrote all his greatest works
for the French stage, and became so completely identified with the
country of his adoption, that nowadays we are far more apt to think of
him as a French than as a German composer. 'Iphigenie en Aulide' is
founded upon Racine's play, which in its turn had been derived from the
tragedy of Euripides. The scene of the opera is laid at Aulis, where the
Greek fleet is prevented by contrary winds from starting for Troy.
Diana, who has been unwittingly insulted by Agamemnon, demands a human
sacrifice, and Iphigenia, the guiltless daughter of Agamemnon, has been
named by the high priest Calchas as the victim.
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