The National Opera of Bucharest is set to captivate audiences with the premiere of George Enescu’s masterpiece, ‘Oedipe,’ on January 15th at 6:30 PM, as a celebration of the National Culture Day.

The current production boasts a stellar cast including Ionuț Pascu, Marius Boloș, Dan Indricău, Andrei Lazăr, Ion Dimieru, Leonard Bernad, Damian Vlad, Daniel Filipescu, Andrei Petre, Oana Andra, Sorana Negrea, Daniela Cârstea, Andreea Iftimescu, and Zoica Șohterus.

Directed by Stefano Poda, the performance promises a seamless fusion of direction, set design, costumes, lighting, and choreography. Maestro Tiberiu Soare will be at the conductor’s podium. The dedicated team working on ‘Oedipe’ at the National Opera of Bucharest also includes Paolo Giani (associate director), Silvia Sisto (assistant choreographer), Mircea Pădurariu (assistant conductor), as well as Paula Stoica and Claudia Machedon (assistant directors).

Stefano Poda shared his enthusiasm, stating, “Oedipe’ is about all of us. For me, this invitation to work in Bucharest on this show is a great, great honor. I have done this show many times, studied the score, and each time destiny leads me to this idea, which is actually the starting point of the opera. Enescu, with an extraordinary vision, absorbs all that ferment which in France, in Paris, represented the epicenter, summarizing everything, the entire course of musicological, dramaturgical, artistic, and philosophical research. I would also say psychoanalytic and truly the culmination of an infinite reflection that truly allows Oedipus to approach the tragic dimension in the sense of universality, in the sense of timeless, without becoming a closed individual. We are all Oedipus. Each of us is also Jocasta and Laius, each of the characters that Sophocles addresses and offers as a paradigm of development and the growth of the feeling of disappointment. It is impressive that this message started more than 2000 years ago, and George Enescu takes it over, amplifies it, and relaunches this reflection thanks to music that is also universal,” quoted in the press release.

‘Oedipe’ by George Enescu stands as a monumental lyrical tragedy in four acts, with the libretto crafted in French by Edmond Fleg. Composed between 1921-1931, the opera, dedicated to Enescu’s wife Maria Rosetti-Tescanu, draws inspiration from Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, a quintessential piece of ancient Greek theatre. The narrative thread extends further through Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone, both authored by Sophocles, as detailed in the provided source.

The first preview of Oedipe was staged on December 21, 2023, at the National Opera of Bucharest. Tickets are available here.

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