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Blackheath Halls Opera returns for another year with a cast of over 100 singers and musicians of all ages from the local area, performing together with a cast of exceptional professional singers.

German composer Christoph Willibald Gluck's Iphigenia in Tauris is a Greek drama which blends both emotional beauty and intensity in a tale of fate, redemption and the enduring strength of familial bonds.

Fifteen years after being miraculously saved from death at the hands of her own father, Iphigenia lives in exile in a foreign land, serving as a priestess to Diana, the goddess who rescued her. Obliged to preside over the brutal rituals demanded by the King of Tauris, she remains haunted by memories of family, faith, and a life stolen by the gods.

Into this bleak world arrives her brother, Orestes, tormented by the Furies for the crime of matricide, and desperate to find an end to his suffering. Will the siblings recognise one another, escape Tauris and reclaim their broken legacy, or will Iphigenia be forced to unknowingly sacrifice her own flesh and blood?

Sung in English in a newly commissioned translation by Martin Pickard (Head of Music, Opera North 2008-2015), and specially adapted for the unique performing forces of Blackheath Halls Opera, this dynamic production will explore the power of love in all its forms – between friends and lovers, across family, and in the bonds of community – even in the darkest of times.

The edition of Iphigénie en Tauride used in these performances is published by Bärenreiter-Verlag Kassel, edited by Gerhard Groll.
Performed by arrangement with Faber Music Ltd, London.