Oedipe by Enescu, world premiere on National Culture Day at the National Opera

On the National Culture Day, January 15, at 6:30 PM, the Bucharest National Opera presents the world premiere of George Enescu’s masterpiece ‘Oedipe.’ The direction, set design, costumes, lighting, and choreography are all signed by Stefano Poda. Maestro Tiberiu Soare will conduct.

About ‘Oedipe,’ the main creation and the only internationally resonant masterpiece of Romanian lyrical art, found in the repertoires of various prestigious opera theaters worldwide, the great composer George Enescu stated: “It is not for me to declare whether Oedipe is my most perfect work or not. All I can say is that, among all, it is the dearest to me. Firstly, because it cost me months of work and years of unrest. Then, because I poured into it everything I felt, thought, in such a way that I sometimes merged with my hero. No one would believe me if I were to say in what a state of exaltation I was thinking about Oedipe and composing, note by note, this immense opera.”

Oedipe by George Enescu is a monumental lyrical tragedy in 4 acts. The libretto of the opera is written in French by Edmond Fleg. Oedipe was composed by Enescu between 1921-1931, being dedicated to his wife, Maria Rosetti-Tescanu. The opera was inspired, in particular, by the tragedy Oedipus the King by Sophocles. This monumental work is considered one of the highly representative plays of Greek antiquity, and the narrative thread is continued by Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone (both by Sophocles).

About the premiere on the stage of the Bucharest opera, director Stefano Poda said: “Oedipe is about all of us. For me, this invitation to work in Bucharest, this show, is a great, great honor. I’ve done this show many times, I’ve gone through the score, and every time fate brings me to the thought of this idea which is actually the starting point of the opera. Enescu, with an extraordinary vision, absorbed all that ferment which in France, in Paris, represented the epicenter, summarizing everything, throughout the course of musicological, dramaturgical, artistic and philosophical research. I would say psychoanalytically as well and really the culmination of an infinite reflection that allows Oedipus to really approach the tragic dimension in the sense of the universal, in the sense of the timeless, without becoming a closed individual. We are all Oedipus. Each of us is also Jocasta and Laius, each of the characters that Sophocles addresses and offers as a paradigm of the development and growth of the sense of disappointment. It is impressive that this message started more than 2000 years ago and that George Enescu takes up, amplifies and relaunches this reflection thanks to a music that is also universal.”

At its first performance in 1936 in Paris, Oedipe was considered a turning point in the history of opera. With a complex and imposing score, George Enescu created a musical experience that delighted and challenged the audience in equal measure.

Starring: Ionuț Pascu (Oedipe), Marius Boloș (Tirésias), Dan Indricău (Créon), Andrei Lazăr (The Shepherd), Ion Dimieru (The High Priest), Leonard Bernad (Phorbas), Damian Vlad (Străjerul), Daniel Filipescu (Thésée), Andrei Petre (Laïos), Oana Andra (Jocaste), Sorana Negrea (Sphinx), Daniela Cârstea (Antigone), Andreea Iftimescu (Mérope), Zoica Şohterus (a Theban woman). Along with director Stefano Poda and conductor Tiberiu Soare, the team that will mount Oedipe on the stage of the National Opera in Bucharest also includes: Paolo Giani (associate director), Silvia Sisto (assistant choreography), Mircea Pădurariu (assistant conductor), Paula Stoica and Claudia Machedon (assistant directors).