George Enescu: Oedipe

Davide Damiani (Performer), George Enescu (Composer), Michael Gielen (Conductor), Marjana Lipovsek (Performer), Mihaela Ungureanu (Performer), Buhnenorchester der Osterreichischen Bundestheater (Orchestra), Wiener Staatsopernorchester (Orchestra), Ruxandra Donose (Performer), Josef Hopferweiser (Performer), Michael Roider (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Davide Damiani, Marjana Lipovsek, Mihaela Ungureanu, Ruxandra Donose, Josef Hopferweiser, et al.
• Orchestra: Buhnenorchester der Osterreichischen Bundestheater, Wiener Staatsopernorchester
• Conductor: Michael Gielen
• Composer: George Enescu
• Audio CD (January 17, 2006)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B000CEVU6M
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,538 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #38 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Historical Periods > Modern & 20th Century
  • #42 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Vocal & Song
  • #54 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Operettas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Have no hesitation - a treasure!, January 21, 2006

By 

R. Gregory Capaldini (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: George Enescu: Oedipe (Audio CD)

Rarely has the adventuresome listener's investment been so handsomely repaid. Georges Enescu, contemporaneous with Igor Stravinsky, wrote "Oedipe" ("Oedipus") gradually over many years, and it finally premiered in 1936. I've not heard the EMI set of this opera from some years back, luxuriously cast with the likes of Jose Van Dam and other big names, and there's no reason to doubt its merits. Now Naxos has come out with its own cheaper version, from a 1997 production at the Vienna State Opera, again in the original French. Conductor Michael Gielen comes into this venture with a fine reputation and collaborates with a cast of generally unfamiliar singers. But Gielen and all his musicians do themselves proud, and it's been a long time since I got hooked on an opera at first hearing. The American singer Monte Pederson is gripping in the title role, and since he died a few years after this performance, the recording is something of a de-facto memorial.

There are refreshingly original moments throughout this two-hour score, notably the chilling encounter with the Sphinx, and the supportive orchestration varies from pungency to darkness to gossamer delicacy. Some literary experts may cavil at the redemptive conclusion jerry-rigged by Enescu's librettist, and some opera fans may be miffed that Naxos doesn't provide a libretto. Also, this set is from live performance, so you'll hear applause and stage noises, but none of these defects bothered me. If, as textbooks assert, the "modern" or Wagnerian model for opera sought to create a fluent, unified musical experience without stand-alone pieces dropped in, I'd say that Enescu achieves precisely that objective here (as did Debussy in "Pellas"). It makes me wonder what other works of this neglected Romanian composer will come into a joyous re-appreciation.