Oedipus Rex - Opera-Oratorio in 2 Acts
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Anne Sofie von Otter (Jocasta), Vinson Cole (Oedipus), Nicolai Gedda (Shepherd), Hans Sotin (Tiresias), Simon Estes (Messenger), Patrice Chéreau (narrator)
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Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Chorus,
Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Esa-Pekka Salonen
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Date of Recording: 05/1991
Venue: Berwald Hall, Stockholm, Sweden
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Oedipus Rex is one of the most remarkable and successful of Stravinsky's "neoclassical" pieces. With text set in Latin, a narrator explains what is about to happen, and invites the audience to observe the action objectively, without becoming emotionally involved. The result is music which has the same monumentality and "spatial" quality as a sculpture garden. Esa-Pekka Salonen has rapidly gained a reputation as one of our finest Stravinsky conductors. Together with his stellar lineup of soloists, he turns in spectacular performance.--David Hurwitz