Oedipus (Rihm)

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Opera dates
Title: Oedipus
Shape: Music theater in two parts
Original language: German
Music: Wolfgang Rihm
Libretto : Wolfgang Rihm
Literary source: Sophocles / Friedrich Hölderlin : Oedipus the tyrant ,
Friedrich Nietzsche : Oedipus. Speeches of the last philosopher with himself,
Heiner Müller : Oedipus commentary
Premiere: 4th October 1987
Place of premiere: German Opera Berlin
Playing time: approx. 1 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Thebes , mythical time
people

Oedipus is an opera (original name: "Musiktheater") in two parts by Wolfgang Rihm with a self-compiled libretto based on Sophocles ' Oedipus der Tyrann in the translation of Friedrich Hölderlin , Friedrich Nietzsche's Oedipus. Speeches of the last philosopher with himself and Heiner Müller's commentary on Oedipus. It was premiered on October 4, 1987 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin .

action

Rihm fragmented the well-known plot of the Oedipus myth and placed it in new context. The work is divided into a total of 21 sections. The external plot, which is largely based on Sophocles' model, takes place in six dramatic scenes. The past of Oedipus appears in three memory images in the background of the stage: Oedipus and the Sphinx , a child hobbling through a rocky desert and the scuffle at the fork in the road. Rihm used the Nietzsche text for four inner monologues in which Oedipus reflects on himself. Five excerpts from Heiner Müller's commentary on Oedipus illuminate the events from a more objective point of view.

At the beginning, Oedipus is threatened by the Sphinx (represented by four sopranos). He has to solve the riddle she posed and can free himself with his answer "Man". The inhabitants of Thebes , of which Oedipus is now king, suffer from a plague epidemic. To find out the reason for this plague, Oedipus sent his brother-in-law Creon to the oracle of Delphi . He learns that the cause is the hitherto unavenged murder of his predecessor Laios on the throne . Oedipus swears to track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Through the blind seer Tiresias he learns that he himself is the wanted murderer. The action pauses for a moment while Oedipus ponders his past and his thoughts can be heard through loudspeaker voices. Since he does not yet believe the allegations, he initially suspects Creon's intrigue, which Tiresias could have brought against him. It was only during a conversation with his wife Jokasta that he remembers that he had killed an old man in battle on the way to Thebes (the scene can be seen as a living image in the background of the stage). This was evidently Laios, the then king of Thebes and husband Jokastas, whom Oedipus later married himself. A messenger appears with the news that Oedipus' father Polybos has died. However, he was not his real father, but only raised Oedipus. He himself (the messenger) received Oedipus as a child with sewn toes from a shepherd and handed it over to Polybos. Oedipus gradually learns more background information: He is really the son of Laios and Jokasta and was handed over to death by them because of an oracle that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Only the compassion of the shepherds saved him then. When Jokasta understands the scope of this truth, she hangs herself. Oedipus finds her corpse and then blinds himself with her golden clothes clips. Now he is physically blind, but he can see in a different way. Creon banishes him from the city. Oedipus has to leave his children behind. A woman (sung by the Jokasta singer) complains with him. Creon calls after him: "See his example, who breaks out of the bloody starting blocks in human freedom". He breaks out in hysterical laughter.

layout

orchestra

The orchestral line-up includes the following instruments:

libretto

Due to the splitting into different levels, the text appears to be very mysterious and emotionalized. As a result, Rihm achieves a “complex, prismatic reproduction and an immense increase in the layers of meaning, an intensification of the myth” (Wolfgang Schreiber) and connects the myth with the present. Ulrich Schreiber perceived this “intellectual concentration of the levels of meaning” as “excessive conveyance of meaning”, which ultimately “led less to their deepening than to their self-abolition”. The score manuscript closes with the possibly self-critical words “Die Welt zerdacht. And space and times and what humanity waved and weighed, function only of infinities - the myth lied ”( Gottfried Benn : Verlorenes Ich, 1943).

music

Musically, the massive use of brass and percussion, which depict “outcry and protest”, is striking. The high woodwinds evoke headaches like the agony of Oedipus through long sound bands. After Oedipus' self-fading, there are two duet solo violins that accompany Oedipus from now on permanently into the “most distant distance”. In addition, there are always phases of silence and different noises. The orchestra essentially supports the words of the protagonists. The highest and lowest ranges as well as strong dynamic opposites are predominant. The sound world appears to be divided into individual "sound points" like blocks. Clusters and violent outbursts of drums emphasize the overall apocalyptic character of the work. The choir appears both as a 16-part male choir of the elders on stage and as a mixed speaking and singing choir from the tape. Rihm himself described the aggressive tonal language of this opera with the words: "The sound is a weapon here - or a scalpel?"

Work history

Wolfgang Rihm composed this "music theater" in 1986 and 1987 on behalf of the Deutsche Oper Berlin . The composer put together the libretto himself. It is based on the text version of Sophocles ' drama Oedipus der Tyrann and Friedrich Nietzsche's posthumous fragment Oedipus, translated by Friedrich Hölderlin . Talks of the last philosopher with himself. A fragment from the history of posterity and Heiner Müller's commentary on Oedipus.

The premiere there took place on October 4, 1987 under the direction of the conductor Christof Prick . The production came from Götz Friedrich , the equipment from Andreas Reinhardt . It sang Andreas Schmidt (Oedipus), William Pell (Creon), William Dooley (Tiresias), Lenus Carlson (messenger), William Murray (Shepherd), Emily Golden (Jokasta). The performance was successful. It was broadcast live from the third programs on German television.

At the Wiener Festwochen 1989 the work was performed in concert in the Wiener Konzerthaus under the direction of Michael Gielen . Richard Salter sang Oedipus and Dunja Vejzovic sang Jokasta.

The work was performed in an English text version by Carol Borah Palca of the Santa Fe Opera under the conductor George Manahan. It was directed by Francesca Zambello. Bruno Schwengl contributed the stage and costumes. The main actors were Rod Gilfry (Oedipus), David Rampy (Creon), William Dooley (Tiresias), Peter Van Derick (Messenger), Patryk Wroblewski (Shepherd) and Emily Golden (Jokasta).

In 2003 there was a new scenic production by the Krefeld and Mönchengladbach theaters . Kenneth Duryea conducted the Niederrhein Symphony Orchestra here. Directed by Gregor Horres . The stage came from Kirsten Dephoff. Johannes M. Kösters the title role, Carola Guber the Jokasta, Ronald Carter the Creon and Michael Tews the Tiresias.

Recordings

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Information on the works of the Universal Edition , accessed on July 30, 2020.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Wolfgang Schreiber: Oedipus. In: Attila Csampai , Dietmar Holland : Opera guide. E-book. Rombach, Freiburg im Breisgau 2015, ISBN 978-3-7930-6025-3 , pp. 1474–1476.
  3. ^ A b Josef Häusler :  Rihm, Wolfgang. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  4. ^ Alfred Clayton: Oedipus. In: Amanda Holden (Ed.): The Viking Opera Guide. Viking, London / New York 1993, ISBN 0-670-81292-7 , p. 863.
  5. ↑ Introduction from the video broadcast of the world premiere.
  6. ^ Ulrich Schreiber : Opera guide for advanced learners. 20th Century II. German and Italian Opera after 1945, France, Great Britain. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-7618-1437-2 , p. 272.
  7. ^ Sybill Mahlke: Oedipus. In: Opernwelt 11/1987. Reprinted in: Wolfgang Rihm on his 60th birthday. In: Opernwelt 3/2012, p. 74.
  8. ^ Susanne Schmerda: Oedipus. In: Curt A. Roesler, Siegmar Hohl (Ed.): Bertelsmann Opernführer. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh / Munich 1995, ISBN 3-577-10522-4 , p. 265.
  9. ↑ a b c Wolfgang Rihm. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings (= Zeno.org . Volume 20). Directmedia, Berlin 2005.
  10. ^ A b Advertisement from the Wiener Festwochen 1989. In: Österreichische Musikzeitschrift , Volume 44 (1989), ISSN  2307-2970 , DOI: 10.7767 / omz.1989.44.jg.234 , p. 240.
  11. ^ Bernard Holland: A German's Grotesque View of "Oedipus" in Santa Fe. Review of the 1991 Santa Fe performance. In: The New York Times , Aug. 2, 1991, accessed Aug. 2, 2020.
  12. ↑ Michael Struck-Schloen: Wondering draft. Review of the performance in Mönchengladbach 2003. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , February 13, 2013, accessed on August 2, 2020.
  13. ^ Frieder Reininghaus : Oedipus. Review of the performance in Mönchengladbach 2003. In: Deutschlandfunk , February 10, 2013, accessed on August 2, 2020.
  14. ↑ Georg Beck: Unreasonable Truths. Review of the performance in Mönchengladbach 2003. In: Oper & Tanz, 2002/2003, accessed on August 2, 2020.
  15. ↑ Stefan Schmöe: Sounds like scalpels. Review of the performance in Mönchengladbach 2003. In: Online Musik Magazin, accessed on August 2, 2020.