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Enescu's 艗dipe

艗dipe - George Enescu's masterly retelling of the Oedpius tragedy in a performance from the Bregenz Festival conducted by Hannu Lintu.

George Enescu's 艗dipe from the Bregenz Festival.

An all-too-rare staging of Enescu's masterpiece. A retelling of the Oedipus story, it's a work which occupied Enescu for a quarter of a century before its hugely successful premiere in Paris in 1936. It's a work admired for its ambition, its daunting demands and for the sheer originality of its music.

A terrible curse weighs on King La茂os of Thebes. The oracle of Delphi has prophesied that he will be slain by his firstborn and that he will marry his own mother Jocaste. Fearing the prophecy, La茂os orders a shepherd to kill his son 艗dipe immediately after birth. But fate would have it otherwise...

Presented by Georgia Mann with guest Nigel Simeone.

George Enescu: 艗dipe, trag茅die lyrique in four acts and six scenes
Libretto by Edmond Fleg, partly based on the tragedies King Oedipus and Oedipus at Colonos by Sophocles.

艗dipe ..... Paul Gay (bass-baritone)
Tir茅sias .... Ante Jerkunica (bass-baritone)
Cr茅on .... Tuomas Pursio (baritone)
Le Berger (Shepherd) .... Mihails 膶u募pajevs (tenor)
Le Grand Pr锚tre (High priest) .... Nika Guliashvili (bass)
Phorbas / Le Veilleur .... Vazgen Gazaryan (bass)
Th茅s茅e .... Nikita Ivasechko (baritone)
La茂os .... Michael Heim (tenor)
Jocaste .... Marina Prudenskaya (mezzo-soprano)
La Sphinge (The Sphinx) .... Anna Danik (mezzo-soprano)
Antigone .... Iris Candelaria (soprano)
M茅rope .... Tone Kummervold (mezzo-soprano)
Prague Philharmonic Choir
Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Hannu Lintu (conductor)

艗dipe survives and grows up as the son of King Polybos and Queen Merope in Corinth. They never tell him about his origins. As a teenager, however, 艗dipe finds out about the portentous prophecy. He leaves his alleged parents to flee his fate. On the way to Thebes, where he defeats the Sphinx, 艗dipe starts an argument with a stranger and beats him to death. Celebrated as an anonymous hero, he is crowned the new king and marries the widowed Queen. What he does not know: The man he killed was his father and the woman he marries is his mother, Jocasta. This heinous crime does not go unpunished. A plague haunts Thebes and 艗dipe, guilty by accident, realizes that he fulfilled his prophecy a long time ago. Jocasta commits suicide, 艗dipe blinds himself and leaves his family and Thebes. After suffering decades of isolation, the Gods finally grant 艗dipe mercy and lead him back into the light.

3 hours, 28 minutes

Last on

Sat 21 Feb 2026 18:00

Music Played

  • George Enescu

    Oedipe Act 1 - Prologue

  • George Enescu

    Oedipe Act 2

  • George Enescu

    Oedipe Act 3

  • George Enescu

    Oedipe Act 4 - Epilogue

  • Witold Lutos艂awski

    Cello Concerto

    Performer: Santiago Ca帽贸n-Valencia. Orchestra: 91福利社 Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Micha艂 Nesterowicz.
  • Emma Rawicz

    Repository of Dreams

    Performer: Emma Rawicz. Performer: Marc Michel. Performer: Freddie Jensen. Performer: Rasmus S酶rensen.

Broadcast

  • Sat 21 Feb 2026 18:00