Conducts Oedipus Rex (Opera-Oratorio In Two Acts After Sophocles)

Igor Stravinsky composed Oedipus Rex between 1926 and 1927, intending the work to be a monumental synthesis of opera and oratorio. By choosing a Latin libretto by Jean Cocteau, Stravinsky sought to strip away the emotional volatility of Romantic-era opera in favor of a static, ritualistic austerity that he believed would achieve a greater sense of timeless, tragic inevitability.

This particular release on the Columbia Masterworks label, catalog number M 31129, features a recording conducted by Stravinsky himself. As one of the composer’s later interpretations, it offers a definitive perspective on his neoclassical aesthetic. The recording captures the deliberate, cool detachment of the score, reflecting Stravinsky's lifelong effort to maintain precise control over how his rhythmic structures and harmonic shifts were presented to the public.