Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex & Symphony of Psalms

Name: Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex & Symphony of Psalms
Price: 22.25 USD
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Ivo Zidek (Oedipus), Vera Soukupova (Jocasta), Zdenek Kroupa (Messenger), Karel Berman (Creon), Eduard Haken (Tiresias), Antonin Zlesak (Shepherd), Jean Desailly (Narrator)

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Choir (=Czech Philharmonic Chorus), Karel Ancerl, Josef Veselka

Oedipus Rex, to words by Jean Cocteau, is one of Stravinsky's most compelling theatre pieces, a powerful drama that re-enacts the full force of a glorious high spot in ancient culture. The fusion... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: SU36742
Label: Supraphon
Series: Ancerl Gold Edition

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Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex

Ivo Zidek (Oedipus), Vera Soukupova (Jocasta), Zdenek Kroupa (Messenger), Karel Berman (Creon), Eduard Haken (Tiresias), Antonin Zlesak (Shepherd), Jean Desailly (Narrator)
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Choir (=Czech Philharmonic Chorus)
Karel Ancerl, Josef Veselka

Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Choir (=Czech Philharmonic Chorus)
Karel Ancerl, Josef Veselka

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Reviews

2010

Oedipus Rex, to words by Jean Cocteau, is one of Stravinsky's most compelling theatre pieces, a powerful drama that re-enacts the full force of a glorious high spot in ancient culture. The fusion of words and music in Oedipus is masterly, and arrests the attention consistently, from the animated severity of the opening narration, through the calculated tension of its musical argument, to the tragic restraint of its closing pages. Karel Ancerl was one of Stravinsky's most committed exponents.
This particular recording was taped in the Dvorák Hall of the House of Artists, Prague, and earned itself at least three major awards.
Ancerl traces and intensifies salient points in the tragedy yet maintains a precise, sensitive touch.
His vocal collaborators include the noble Karel Berman (Créon) who, like Ancerl himself, suffered considerably during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Vera Soukupová is a fine Jocasta and the convincing but occasionally unsteady Ivo Zídek sings the part of Oedipus.
Both here and in the Symphony of Psalms – one of the most serenely perceptive recorded performances of the work – the Czech Philharmonic Chorus excel, while Supraphon's 1960s engineering (not the DDD suggested on the box) has an appealing brightness.

January 1968

It may cost less than half the price of Stravinsky's version, but the performance is at least as enjoyable, with far superior chorus and orchestra and in some respects goes to the heart of the drama more compellingly than the composer himself.

Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex & Symphony of Psalms

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