5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb!, September 13, 2011
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.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Worth checking out - but better recordings exist, April 2, 2011
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.
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