See all informations
Jephtha
Palais Garnier - from 13 to 30 January 2018
Jephtha
Georg Friedrich Haendel
Palais Garnier - from 13 to 30 January 2018
3h05 with 1 interval
Language : English
Surtitle : French / English
-
Opening night : 13 January 2018
About
In few words:
When Jephthah, a biblical parable adapted from the Book of Judges, begins, the people of Israel are under the yoke of neighbouring nations which pillage and oppress them. Jephthah, destined to become their saviour, has grown up in the desert until becoming a powerful military leader. On leaving for battle, he swears to the god Jehovah that he will sacrifice the first person he meets on his way home. Alas, as he returns victorious, it is Iphis, his only daughter, who comes to meet him… Claus Guth directs this oratorio in which grief‑stricken voices interweave as they confront an apocalyptic situation. The drama seems to lead to a tragic denouement,
in accordance with Handel’s injunction: “It must be thus”. But must it really be thus?
-
Jephtha
Oratorio en three acts
-
Performances
Book your tickets today with the Season Pass
Available in audiodescription
Advantages
Full
Book your tickets today with the Season Pass
Available in audiodescription
Advantages
Full
Gallery
Videos clips
Audio clips
Jephtha - Georg Friedrich Haendel
— By In partnership with France Musique
Backstage
© Jonathan Sullam
Podcast
Podcast Jephtha
"Dance! Sing! 7 minutes at the Paris Opera" - by France Musique
07’
"Dance! Sing! 7 minutes at the Paris Opera" offers original incursions into the season thanks to broadcasts produced by France Musique and the Paris Opera. For each opera or ballet production, Judith Chaine (opera) and Stéphane Grant (dance), present the works and artists you are going to discover when you attend performances in our theatres.
© Oscar Ortega
Article
Handel at the peak of his art
Interview with William Christie
03’
Founder of the Arts Florissants, pioneer of the rediscovery of Baroque music, the Franco-American conductor William Christie is the architect of one of the most remarkable musical adventures of the last thirty years. Currently conducting Jephtha at the Palais Garnier, he spoke to us about Handel’s oratorio.
Can you situate Jephtha within Handel’s career?
The theme of a father forced to sacrifice his daughter to honour a vow made to heaven seems rather archaic to us today. What can Jephtha have to say to our era?
“Handel takes particular care to lay bare the father beneath the warrior chief, – a father devastated at the idea of sacrificing his daughter.”
Handel devoted his life to composition, beginning with opera seria and finishing with oratorio. What, in your view, constitutes the difference between the two genres?
© Eléna Bauer / OnP
Article
Refusing the end
Interview with Claus Guth
04’
Invited to stage Handel’s oratorio, Claus Guth has chosen to seize the bull by the horns and question the very notion of fatality that governs the work: “Must it really be this way?”
The myth of Jephtha deals with the question of oaths and sacrifice. How do these themes speak to us today?
How do you interpret his gesture?
We have chosen to narrate part of the story's antecedents as of the overture, in order to show where Jephtha was coming from and the burdens he had to carry during his life. What do we know of the reasons that prompted Jephtha to make this vow? The Bible tells us nothing on this subject … After undergoing so many setbacks, after all those years spent isolated from the world, in utter solitude, he finds himself in a state of euphoria, of excessive pride, of hubris. The fact that he has been sought out, that he begins to feel that reparation might be possible, excites a sort of megalomania in him. He believes himself to be in a position to negotiate with God, offering to sacrifice a human life in exchange for his help in securing a victory.
How have you compensated for the Bible’s omissions?
Handel’s oratorio deviates from the myth…
Yes.
The end of the Bible story is brutal and shocking and shows Iphis sacrificed by
her father. When the work was first performed, such an ending was unthinkable
for an oratorio: so an angel appears, saving Iphis’s life before the sacrifice
can take place. This raises questions for us about the reasons for this
deliverance. The appearance of the angel is without doubt the librettist’s most
interesting modification of the biblical narrative. We
have taken this angel very seriously and completely literally, but we also
asked ourselves the following question: in what state of delirium must one be
to see a vision of an angel? What is the psychological state of those about to
witness the appearance of an angel or the performing of a miracle?