About the work
Opera in two parts by Wolfgang Rihm, based on a text he compiled himself from Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" in Friedrich Hölderlin's translation, supplemented with passages by Friedrich Nietzsche and Heiner Müller's "Oedipus Commentary". Rihm composed the work in 1986–87; it premiered on 4 October 1987 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, directed by Götz Friedrich.
Plot
The opera distils the myth of the Theban king who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother down to its core stations: recognition, guilt and self-blinding. Rihm layers Hölderlin's archaic language with Nietzsche's and Müller's philosophical and political commentary into a multi-voiced reflection on power and knowledge.
Cultural significance
For long stretches the score is written for winds alone; only when Oedipus blinds himself do two solo violins enter, an effect much noted by critics. The premiere production was documented on video and counts among the key works of German music theatre of the 1980s.