ŒdipeNouvelle production

Opera in French language

A unique piece of 20th century musical theatre can be seen in Berlin for the first time in over 20 years, staged by the up-and-coming Russian director Evgeny Titov, who caused a sensation at the 2019 Salzburg Festival with his production of Gorky's Summer Guests. The title role is played by the British baritone Leigh Melrose, hailed as one of the new experts in 20th century opera.

Inescapable Prophecy: Abandoned by his parents on account of a terrible prophecy and raised without knowing his true origins by foster parents, Oedipus resists with all his strength his seemingly inescapable fate, yet can’t help but fulfill that very destiny. As foretold by the oracle, he unwittingly kills his father, and sleeps with his mother. When he finally learns the terrible truth, he takes his own sight. But even through this violent act of self-punishment, he can’t escape his fate.  Ultimately, Oedipus finds peace only through the realisation that his desperate struggle against inexorable fate is part of his humanity. 

The Romanian composer George Enescu, who studied in Paris with Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré, among others, worked for almost 20 years on his magnum opus. The result is a masterpiece that deserves a place among the same series as Alban Berg's Wozzeck or Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, even if it has not achieved the fame of the latter. Hovering in its theatrical form between gripping drama and mystical oratorio, this fascinating composition oscillates between musical modernity with quarter-tone passages and impressionistic, yet folkloric Romanian sounds.