Œdipe (opera)

Œdipe is an opera in four acts by the Romanian composer George Enescu (1881–1955), based on the mythological tale of Oedipus, and set to a French libretto by Edmond Fleg.

Enescu had the idea to compose an Oedipus-inspired opera even before finding a libretto and began to sketch music for it in 1910. The first-draft libretto from Fleg arrived in 1913. Enesco completed the music in 1922 and the orchestration in 1931. The opera received its world premiere in Paris on 13 March 1936. The first German production was in Berlin in 1996, in a production that subsequently traveled to the Vienna State Opera. The United States premiere was in 2005 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This dramatic musical treatment of the Oedipus myth is unusual in that it attempts to cover the entire story of Oedipus' life, from birth to death. Act III covers the story of Oedipus the King. Act IV overlaps in plot with Oedipus at Colonus, though with divergent psychological treatment of Oedipus' final days compared to the original. It is generally considered to be Enescu's masterpiece.

Act I
In the royal palace of Thebes, the people celebrate the birth of the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta. Just as Laius and Jocasta, at the High Priest's request, are to name the child, the old and blind prophet Tiresias interrupts the festivities. He reproaches Laius for having disobeyed Apollo's injunction to bear no descendants, and tells of the gods' punishment for this transgression: one day, the child will murder his father and marry his mother. The appalled Laius summons a shepherd and commands him to abandon the infant in the mountains so that it will die.

Act II
Scene One: It is twenty years later, and the child has survived and been named Oedipus, and lives in Corinth as the child of King Polybus and Queen Merope. At the palace, Oedipus has dark visions, and declines to participate in the city games and revelry. He has visited the Oracle at Delphi, which told him his fate, that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He thinks that Polybus and Merope are his biological parents, and thus wants to flee the palace to confound the prophecy. Merope sends her counselor, Phorbes, to Oedipus, who will not reveal the cause of his concern. He does say that he was once called a foundling. More intent on leaving Corinth, Oedipus reveals the Delphic prophecy to Merope, who is aghast. Alone, Oedipus leaves Corinth.

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