Search - Stravinsky, Welser-Most, Lpo :: Oedipus Rex

A great work from Stravinsky's early neo-classic period in a

Craig Matteson | Ann Arbor, MI | 10/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Stravinsky exploded on the world with his three early ballets, "The Firebird", "Petroushka", and "The Rite of Spring". He wrote smaller works during the First World War, for obvious reasons. He settled in Paris and there all things Greek were all the rage. The prolific and influential Jean Cocteau was one of those at the heart of this. Stravinsky approached him about the collaboration and Cocteau wrote the story of Oedipus in French. Stravinsky was interested in a monumental affect for this piece and the Abbé Danielou reworked this into a suitable Latin text for the kind of work Stravinsky had in mind.



The composer had chosen Latin for this work because he did not want a dead language, but one that had turned to stone. Stravinsky's compositional use of language emphasized syllables and often set them against their normal pronunciation for dramatic and musical affect. The idea was that most people would be familiar with the story, so Latin would be less of a barrier. Cocteau also suggested adding the commentator in the native language of the listeners. This addition has been quite controversial over the years, but it is always done with these interruptions. I think they actually work well for the piece.



The monumental affect for the piece is emphasized in the term Stravinsky gave the work: an opera oratorio. He wanted masks and for the chorus to be stationary and more to be done with lighting than movement. This has all been reinterpreted many ways over the years. However, those that have used masks and emphasized the stone and statue in the work tend to be more successful.



The piece premiered in 1927 on a program with "The Firebird" and made little impact. Because this was composed in such a different style and was a very early work in Stravinsky's neo-classic period it is not surprising that people would not really understand what he was after. In fact, the whole neo-classic movement continues to be the subject of great debate in music circles.



The work is in two acts. The story opens with crashing misery in a Thebes stricken with the plague. The chorus pleads with Oedipus to save them from the plague as he had saved them from the Sphinx. The marvelously arrogant and haughty reply of Oedipus that he would indeed save them is one of my favorites of all time. Creon, the brother of Oedipus arrives and says that the oracle he has consulted says that the plague is a punishment for the murder of King Laius. Oedipus swears that he will find the assassin and dispense justice.



Tiresias, the blind soothsayer, is brought before Oedipus but will not speak. Oedipus accuses Tiresias and Creon of a conspiracy to place Creon as the kind. Tiresias is terribly offended and says that the murderer of the king is a king. At this point there is a wonderful touch. Tiresias sings Rex on the D above middle C and before he cuts off, Oedipus enters on the same note and in that way touches his guilt. This recording slightly misses this by having Oedipus come in after Tiresias cuts off, but that is contrary to the score.



Jocasta tells the men that they are acting wrongly to argue so in public. She doesn't trust oracles and notes that they lie. An oracle had predicted the Laius would be killed by a son when in fact he was killed on the road to Delphi where three roads met (the Trivium).



Oedipus is suddenly afraid. He tells Jocasta that he had killed a man at a point where three roads met. In a marvelous duet, Jocasta calls for Oedipus to stop all this and come away. He becomes ever more frantic as to what all this means. A messenger arrives to tell Oedipus that his father Polybus has died. He also tells Oedipus that he was only an adopted son of Polybus. The shepherd who was with and explains that he found Oedipus abandoned Jocasta understands and flees. (For those who do not know the story, Oedipus is the son of Polybus and Jocasta. Polybus, fearing the oracle's prediction that he would be killed by a son, pierces Oedipus's feet and leaves the babe abandoned on the road to die. The name Oedipus comes from those injured feet.) Oedipus thinks she is ashamed of being the wife of an upstart rather than one of royal blood. She flees. Eventually Oedipus himself understands and the great moment in the piece is when he sings "Lux Facta Est" - "All is clear". He sings a descending b-minor arpeggio from f sharp to f sharp. The strings recast that low f sharp from the fifth of the b minor harmony to the third of a very low and soft d major chord. Magic!



The epilogue is a messenger singing over and over again that the Divine Queen Jocasta is dead. The chorus recounts the horror of her hanging herself and Oedipus gouging out his eyes with her broach. As they cast the bloody and blind Oedipus from the city, they pity him and express their past love for him.



A terrific piece that is not about Freud's misuse of the story, but about our being in the hands of the gods and how arrogant is our belief that we can determine our own lives and can control fate.



This is a good recording. The voices are all clear and strong. The overall performance has the right dramatic flow and breadth of range. Recommended if you can find one."