opera-oratorio in two acts Music: Igor
Stravinsky Production by Jonathan Miller
(2003)
Libretto (in French) by Jean Cocteau, after the play Oedipus
Tyrannus by Sophocles Latin sections translated by Jean Danielou
Musical Director: Valery Gergiev Stage Director:
Jonathan Miller Set Designers: Jonathan Miller and
Charles Quiggin Costume Designer: Sue
Willmington Lighting Designer: Mrs DM
Wood Principal Chorus Master: Andrei
Petrenko Musical Preparation: Natalia Domskaya
•World premiere: 30 May 1927, Theatre Sarah-Bernhardt,
Paris; •Premiere of this production: 10 April 2003, Mariinsky Theatre, St
Petersburg
Production sponsored by Lenenergo
Running time: 1
hour The Performance without an interval
"I considered an
opera or an oratorio based on some plot that everyone knows. This way, I wanted
to focus the audience’s attention not on the story but on the music itself,
which would thus take on meaning, words and action," the composer recalled
in his autobiographical Chronicle of My Life. Taking advice from the renowned
writer and cultural figure Jean Cocteau who wrote the opera’s libretto,
Stravinsky turned to the tragedy Oedipus the King by the brilliant Ancient Greek
dramatist Sophocles. The plot is based on the myth about the terrible fate of
Oedipus who commits patricide and marries his own mother. Enraged by this
monstrous union of blood and the murder, the gods mercilessly punish the people
of Thebes of whom Oedipus is now king having solved the riddle of the Sphinx.
Learning the terrible truth, his wife Jocasta commits suicide and Oedipus
himself leaves Thebes having put out his own eyes. For the co-creators, however,
it was important "to concentrate the tragedy not on Oedipus himself and the
other characters but on the fateful denouement which is where the whole meaning
of the piece lies." Oedipus Rex heralded the start of a new period in Igor
Stravinsky’s work which is generally known as "neoclassical."
Synopsis
Prologue The narrator enters and addresses the
auditorium: “Spectators! You will now hear Oedipus Rex in Latin.
To free your ears and your minds from any excess burden, the more so as the
opera-oratorio contains only the most important scenes, I will help you to
recall Sophocles’ tragedy gradually. This is how the story unfolds: the
people of Thebes are in disarray. The Sphinx has sent a plague down on the city.
The chorus begs Oedipus to save the city. Oedipus, the sphinx’s conqueror,
promises he will save the people from a new disaster. But he does not realise
that he is ruled by forces that are normally only met with in the afterlife.
These forces have been preparing a trap for him since his very birth – you
will see how it snaps shut.”
Act I Creonte, Oedipus’ brother-in-law, has returned
from the oracle to which he had been sent by Oedipus to seek counsel. The oracle
demands that the murder of King Laius be avenged, and then the plague will leave
the city. The murderer is hidden in Thebes, and must be found whatever the
price. Oedipus is proud of his ability to solve riddles. He discovers the
murderer and drives his from Thebes. Oedipus ask the prophet to help and begs
him to speak the truth. Teiresias avoids giving a reply. He understands that
Oedipus is a toy in the hands of the merciless gods. Teiresias’ silence annoys
Oedipus. He accuses Creonte of a desire to seize the throne and Teiresias of
conspiracy. Enraged at such an unjust slander, the prophet makes his choice and
speaks. Thus comes the discovery: the King has committed regicide.
Act II Jocasta appears. She becomes embroiled in the
conflict and shames the men for arguing when disaster has struck the city. She
does not believe the oracles: oracles lie. For example, it was said that Laius
would die at the hand of his own son, while in fact Laius was killed by robbers
where three roads met. A crossroads! A banality! Take heed of this word. It
terrifies Oedipus. He remembers that on the road from Corinth, before he met the
Sphinx, he killed an old man where three roads met. And if that were Laius? What
comes now? Oedipus mustn’t remain here, yet neither can he return to Corinth as
the oracle never predicted that he would kill his father and become the husband
of his own mother. Oedipus is gripped by terror. At last a witness to
the murder appears – a shepherd. The Messenger informs Oedipus of the death of
Polybius, whom Oedipus had considered to be his father, but now it transpires
that Polybius was not Oedipus’ natural father. Jocasta understands
everything. She tries to draw Oedipus away, dissuading him from digging deeper
into the mystery, but in vain. She herself then flees herself. Oedipus
thinks that she is ashamed of being the wife of a humble impostor. And this is
Oedipus, always proud of his ability to solve all riddles! He is in a trap, and
only he fails to see this. Suddenly a dreadful conjecture strikes him mind. He
is falling. He is falling from a great height. A disturbing monologue
begins: “I saw the dead face of the divine Jocasta,” in which the Messenger
tells of how the Queen has hanged herself and Oedipus blinded himself with a
golden buckle. His words are taken up by the chorus. The King has
fallen into the trap. May everyone, everyone, see this lowly animal, this
half-breed, this madman! He is driven away. He is driven away with unusual pity,
with compassion. Farewell, farewell, poor Oedipus! Farewell, Oedipus, you were
loved here