Search - Stravinsky, Levine, Cso :: Oedipus Rex

A dramatic Oedipus from Chicago, but the solo singing is var

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The glory of this recording of Oedipus Rex is the playing and choral singing from the CSO and its famed chorus. Long associated with them at their summer home at Ravinia, James Levine gives a thrusting, dramatic performance that is as much opera as oratorio.



Among hte soloists, Phillip Langridge is a note-perfect Oedipus with a smooth, silky voice, one of the best portrayals on records. Florence Quivar is a moving Jocasta, though her voice can be wobbly and not always on pitch. In the double role of Creon and the Messenger, James Morris brings a world-class bass voice, which he uses forcefully, almost angrily at times. The other male soloists are a bit creaky, however. The retired baritone Jules Bastin gives a dramatic reading of the narrator's part in Cocteau's original French version, which always sounds more impressive than when it's put into English. Overall, this is one of the best versions of the work--I'd place it just below Colin Davis and Franz Welser-Most, both on EMI, and Leonard Bernstein, back in print on Sony after a long absence."