About the work
Oedipus Rex is an opera-oratorio by Igor Stravinsky after Sophocles' tragedy, with a text by Jean Cocteau that the Abbé Jean Daniélou translated into Latin; a French-speaking narrator guides the audience through the action. Stravinsky composed the work in 1926-27 at the outset of his neoclassical period and gave it a concert premiere on 30 May 1927 at the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt in Paris; the first staged performance followed on 23 February 1928 at the Vienna State Opera.
Plot
The plot follows Sophocles: Theban king Oedipus tries to find the cause of the plague afflicting his city and gradually uncovers that he himself killed his father and married his mother, Jocasta. When the truth comes out, Jocasta takes her own life and Oedipus blinds himself.
Cultural significance
Stravinsky chose Latin – a language, in his own words, not dead but 'turned to stone' – to remove the tragedy from individual expression and give it monumental distance; stylistic echoes of Handel and Verdi combine with a static, statuesque stage presence. The work is regarded as one of the key statements of Stravinsky's neoclassical period.