George Enescu: Oedipe

George Enescu (Composer), Ian Hobson (Conductor), Sinfonia da Camera (Orchestra), Alex DiFulvio (Performer), Ashmani Jha (Performer), Ben Jones (Performer), Bethany Green (Performer), Bradley Robinson (Performer), Carly McIlvaine-Hall (Performer), Chloe Cooper (Performer), Crystal Mann (Performer), Dan Bahr (Performer), Darren T. Anderson (Performer), David Bullock (Performer), Elroy Friesen (Performer), Erin Claxon (Performer), Eva Titlow (Performer), Harold Gray Meers (Performer), Harry Dankowicz (Performer), Jamie Hillman (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Alex DiFulvio, Ashmani Jha, Ben Jones, Bethany Green, Bradley Robinson, et al.
• Orchestra: Sinfonia da Camera
• Conductor: Ian Hobson
• Composer: George Enescu
• Audio CD (August 22, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Albany Records
• ASIN: B000GW8RJ8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #757,355 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb!, September 13, 2011

By 

Dubai787 - See all my reviews

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

Great CD, great singers! I was looking for an alternative classical music CD and found this one. The opera itself is very unique when you first hear it, but Enescu was very talented.

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth checking out - but better recordings exist, April 2, 2011

By 

Daniel Ponder - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

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

This is one of four extant recordings of the only opera by George Enscu (Enesco). Oedipe is the result of a 16 year project of the composer's creation with the aid of Swiss Humanist Endomd Fleg and was premiered in Paris in 1936 at the Opera de Paris Garnier.

The recording, a US premier taken place at the University of Illinois with the conductor and pianist Ian Hobdon and the Sinfonia da Camera. This recording is an interesting reading to say the least with high points and many not "up to par" sections. Enescu's music is very difficult, and it takes a person well versed in French and Romanian music to understand how some of it operates and is interpreted. Some of the playing is very nice (despite problems of intonation, balance, and timing), mainly in the flute and the strings, but one can easily tell this was a difficult recording project under limited time (the exact words of one of the principal wind players on this recording). The cast is not one I have heard much before and it's a far cry from the 1988 recording on EMI with Van Dam, Hendricks, and other great singers. Enesco - Oedipe / van Dam · Hendricks · Lipovsek · Bacquier · Gedda · Courtis · Hauptmann · Quilico · Aler · Vanaud · Albert · Taillon · Foster My hat goes off to the orchestra, chorus and Hobson for putting together such an endeavor but in order to get a real feel for how this piece can really sound, I strongly recommend the aforementioned EMI recording. The other two recordings are: George Enescu: Oedipe and there is a Romanian language recording that is also not great, but provides an interesting perspective.