Stravinsky Opera Oedipus Rex

Plot Synopsis and Character Description of Latin Opera-Oratorio

Oct 21, 2008

Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King), a tragic Latin opera oratorio by Igor Stravinsky. Drama plot summary, character list, and other information.

Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King) is a two-act historical opera oratorio composed by Igor Stravinsky (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971). The librettist is Jean Cocteau based on the play by Sophocles. Latin translation is by J. Daniélou. It was first performed in Vienna, Staatsoper on February 23, 1928. It was revised in 1948. Setting is in Thebes, legendary times.

Oedipus Rex was first produced as an opera-oratorio, Concert premiere, at Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, Paris, on May 30, 1927. It was intended by Igor Stravinsky to be a quality imaginative interpretation of the drama by Sophocles. The words are in Latin, "not dead but monumentalized." The movement on stage is minimum and the orchestration is subtle. The Speaker explains the action that takes place in the vernacular.

Notable arias: "Liberi vos liberabo" (Oedipus), "Nonne erubeskite, reges clamare" (Jocasta), "Morgenlich Leuchtend"/ Prize song (Walter).

Characters / Roles of Opera Oedipus Rex

Plot Summary / Synopsis

Prologue. The narrator/speaker sets the scene in Thebes where Oedipus has saved Thebes from the Sphinx by answering its riddle.

Act I

There is a plague afflicting the people of Thebes and they call on King Oedipus to save them. He promises he will do so and tells the Thebans that Créon, the queen's brother, has gone to consult the oracle. In another aria, Oedipus boasts of his skill at solving riddles. The people prayed to the gods and hail Tirésias to speak up. At first he tries to avoid speaking but when Oedipus accuses him of murdering King Laius, he speaks out: that the murderer is in fact with them, and a king. Créon, who wants to be king himself, reports that the gods demand that King Laius's murderer be punished. Now that Oedipus learns from Tirésias that the murderer is himself a king, he accuses Tirésias with Créon of plotting against him.

Act II

When Queen Jocasta describes Laius's death, Oedipus thinks he may be the murderer. A messenger arrives and reports the death of King Polybus of Corinth and says that Polybus was not Oedipus's father. Jocasta realizes that she is Oedipus's mother and that Oedipus killed his own father. A shepherd tells how Oedipus was discovered on a mountain as a baby and reveals that Laius and Jocasta are indeed the parents of Oedipus. Out of agony and grief, Jocasta hangs herself. Oedipus puts out his eyes with a pin. The Thebans bid their king farewell and mourn Jocasta's death.

Sources:

Martin, Nicholas Ivor. The Da Capo Opera Manual. New York: Da Capo Press, 1997

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