‘In ein fernes Land’ : the politics of translation in Wagner’s arrangement of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide

Abstract

First performed on 24 February 1847 at the Dresden Court Opera, Wagner’s reworked version of Gluck’s 1774 Iphigénie en Aulide represented one of the greatest theatrical successes of his Dresden years. It has had historical consequences for the reception of both Wagner and Gluck respectively, enjoying popularity into the 20th century, and the arrangement has been used more recently in performances and recordings. Overall, however, the reputation of this performing version has dwindled to that of a musicological curiosity. Wagner’s version and the very notion of critical adaptation may be at odds with present-day scholarly desiderata, belonging as it does to the old ‘Kapellmeister’ tradition of changing works to suit performance circumstances or simply to improve upon them with little regard for literalist fidelity to the work or to the composer. It was not until 2010 that the arrangement (identified by catalogue number WWV 77) appeared in the WagnerGesamtausgabe edited by Christa Jost, and since then it has remained largely uncharted territory with only sporadic mentions in scholarship.