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| - Tonight we took in the new COC production of Gluck's Iphigenia in Tauris. Directed by Robert Carsen we knew to expect a minimalist staging and after the amazing success of season's Orpheo et Eurydice there was a lot of expectation. The stage is framed by a raised set that is defined by slabs of dark, chalk-like black slates that transform from out the piece from private spaces of terror, to a prison cell and the Temple of Diana on Tauride. It was a beautiful set made more graphic and intense by the beginning. Iphigenai lit from the front of the stage making her shadow the largest thing in the background, letting us know the importance of lighting, design and shadows for the acts to come.
There chorus were split with the women as Diana's fellow priestess all dressed in simple black modern-dance inspired dresses and the men as Scythian soldiers working for Thoas the King who depends on Iphigenia to carry out the murders of any who are shipwrecked on the shores of Tauride.
We know from a musical interlude at the beginning of a storm which is effectively portrayed through the writing of the names of tragedy on the slate black walls in chalk. The chorus synchronistically writes on one wall Iphigenia, Ageamenon and Clymenstra and the name of Orestes on the floor. Their murders are then acted out by the chorus in a highly theatrical form of Martha Graham-like modern dance as we see the murder of Iphigena, then the murder of Ageamenon and finally the murder of Clymenstra by Orestes.
The starkness of the set and the materials used to convey the drama were nothing less than amazing. We have the sleek black panels used as blackboards, giving the psychological effect of imprisonment and trauma. The immediacy of the chalk lines and how they are splashed with water/blood to make them drip in an eerie manner speaks to the acts that occur. Then there are the lights and shadows that truly were the stars of the show. At times there was more action between the shadows and the singers and I found myself thinking would they somehow take on a life of their own and move independently. It created a stage filled with larger than life dramatic tension.
But there was something missing. The music itself is light, airy, resplendent, filled with joy and frivolity. It is pretty and at times the movement and direction on the stage competed with, rather than enhancing the musical narrative. I adore Carsen's minimalist take and I applaud his use of materials but at times was scratching my head for how the setting and movement related to the music. I missed the lavish, flourish both in vocal gymnastics and movement that would accompany Gluck's music. Could there have been more traditional florid body motion, matching the singing? Or could some of the costumes been a little more florid expanding on the loveliness of the music?
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