Oedipe

Today George Enescu's name means one thing to most listeners: The Romanian Rhapsodies, those stalwarts of symphonic "pops" albums since the days of 78's. But Enescu was much more: in addition to a large chamber and orchestral output that included three large Symphonies, he was considered one of the foremost violinists of the 20th century and a conductor important enough to be considered as Toscanini's successor at the New York Philharmonic. Important Romanian musicians such as Clara Haskil and Dinu Lipatti benefited from his encouragement. As evidence of his skills, we present this new performance of Enescu's Oedipe. Influenced by a 1909 performance of Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannos, he worked on the opera sporadically from 1910 until the final orchestration of 1931. Edmond Fleg's libretto concentrates Sophocles' Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonos in the last two acts of the opera and precedes them with two more acts. Enescu considered himself a Wagnerian who also admired the music of Brahms. Along with a prevailing chromaticism one can also find here similarities with the music of his French teachers and colleagues. Oedipe was premiered in March 1936 at the Grand Opera in Paris to the great acclaim of most critics. Here is a remarkable opera that will shed a fascinating light on a composer too few people really know in depth.