Oedipus Rex

Work:: Oedipus Rex (S1667269725)

Composed in 1927 this oratorio based on Sophocles' Greek tragedy of the same name is a classic crime thriller. In order to rid the country of a deadly pestilence, King Oedipus must find and punish the man who murdered the previous King of Thebes. Messengers and witnesses bring evidence, some of it trustworthy, some of it contradictory. The truth slowly emerges, and Oedipus faces the most difficult decision of all, the choice between life and death. Stravinsky and his librettist, Jean Cocteau, decided to write the sung passages of Oedipus Rex in Latin, making the soloists and chorus appear frozen in time, locked into a never-ending ritual of crime and punishment. A narrator speaks directly to the audience in their own language, a running poetic commentary on this most chilling and terrible of stories.

Music

Stravinsky

Listing:: L2088848204

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Production details

Soak up the atmosphere of 1920s Paris at Leeds Town Hall before experiencing Stravinsky's stunning dramatic oratorio.