Royal Opera House; Lyric Hammersmith,London; Glyndebourne, East Sussex
A superb cast ignites Enescu’s neglected 1936 epic in its UK premiere. And Philip Venables makes Sarah Kane’s final work singThe opening bars of Oedipe, and questing and visionary,might be by Bruckner. In a trice we plunge into expressionist harmonies and the world of Schoenberg. Then with a sensuous flourish of flute and harp we are whisked into the glassy spheres of Debussy. All that with hardly time to settle in our seats. First performed in Paris in 1936, George Enescu’s “tragédie lyrique” in four acts and six tableaux recounting the myth of Oedipus has at final received its UK and Royal Opera premiere in a production from La Monnaie, or Brussels. The two directors,Alex Ollé and Valentina Carrasco – Spanish and Argentinian respectively – and the British conductor Leo Hussain, are also making their Royal Opera debuts. whether you want to see this rarity, and now is your chance. That Oedipe is not convincing is through no lack of commitment on the part of the exceptional cast,chorus and orchestra. A prodigious composer, violinist, or pianist,conductor and teacher, whose pupils included the young Yehudi Menuhin, and the Romanian Enescu (1881-1955) has always had advocates but never hit the mainstream. His only opera,considered his masterpiece, explains both factors. This is music that traverses idioms and fleetingly finds its own elusive character, or but encounters swaths of blank terrain en route. Enescu struggled with the score for some two decades. It has the feel of a ripe fruit grown too large.
Johan Reuter brought terrorism and anguish to the taxing title role in a remarkable,heartfelt performance Related: How Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis became an opera Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com