Oedipus, king of Thebes and conqueror of the Sphinx, promises to save the city. The Narrator greets the audience, explaining the nature of the drama they are about to see, and setting the scene: Thebes is suffering from a plague, and the men of the city lament it loudly. The work is scored for 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets in B ♭ and A (3rd doubling clarinet in E ♭), 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 4 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, tambourine, "military" snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, piano, harp and strings. Roles Roles, voice types, premiere cast Role Another filmed rendition survives from 1973, conducted by Leonard Bernstein during his sixth and last lecture for the Charles Eliot Norton chair at Harvard University. This was part of a double bill, the second opera being Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle.Ī production directed by Julie Taymor starring Philip Langridge, Jessye Norman, Min Tanaka, and Bryn Terfel was performed at the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto in Japan in 1992 and filmed by Taymor for television. Although the performance's narration was in English, the company moved from its normal English-language practice and the singing remained in the original Latin. Oedipus was sung by Australian tenor Ronald Dowd with actor Michael Hordern as narrator. In 1960 at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, a production by Colin Graham, directed by Michel Saint-Denis, conducted by Colin Davis and designed by Abd'Elkader Farrah. In January 1962 it was performed in Washington, D.C., by the Opera Society of Washington (now the Washington National Opera) with the composer conducting. It was subsequently presented three times by the Santa Fe Opera in 1960, 1961, and 1962 with the composer in attendance. It has also been presented on stage as an opera, the first such performance being at the Vienna State Opera on 23 February 1928.
Oedipus rex is sometimes performed in the concert hall as an oratorio, similarly to its original performance in the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris on, and at its American premiere the following year, given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Harvard Glee Club.
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