Review: Oedipus Rex

Despite a libretto by arch-surrealist Jean Cocteau, Stravinsky’s oratorio is a direct and taut retelling of Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannos, lent a magisterial weight by its use of Latin and leaning into the bleak fatalism that is at the heart of the tragedy. With excellent performances from the soloists, it is the massed choruses that give Scottish Opera’s production a sense of grandeur, with the National Museum of Scotland not necessarily adding to the auditory and visual experience.

As a site-specific staging, Oedipus Rex is not overwhelming: the venue itself does not have particularly strong acoustics and the arrangement of the standing audience makes it challenging to follow the dramatic movement. Yet the subtle choreography of the chorus enhances the power of the libretto, adding meaning and transforming the score into a ritualistic re-encampment of the Theban king’s downfall.

Stravinsky’s score is, by turns, urgent and effusive, capturing the threatening subtext of a city that is struggling in the face of divine sanction. Raw and abrasive, Stravinsky shifts moods, from celebrations of Oedipus’ brilliance to anxiety at his fate. While the innovative setting adds little, the production transcends through the performance and the composition, celebrating the timelessness of the myth itself.