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

This 1962 recording of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, released on the CBS label, captures the composer himself leading the Orchestra of the Opera Society of Washington. Stravinsky had long viewed the work, which he conceived in the mid-1920s as a monumental fusion of opera and oratorio, as a centerpiece of his neoclassical period. By the time of this recording, Stravinsky was actively documenting his own interpretation of his canon for the Columbia Masterworks series, aiming to preserve his intended tempi and rhythmic precision against the increasingly loose interpretations of his contemporaries.

The production is notable for its deliberate, statuesque quality, reflecting Stravinsky’s original vision of the work as a ritualistic, frozen tragedy. The libretto, translated into Latin by Jean Cocteau, was designed to distance the emotional impact of the myth, stripping it of romanticism. Critics and listeners of the time often noted that while this recording might lack the raw theatricality of earlier live performances, it serves as the definitive reference for the structural clarity and objective tone that Stravinsky demanded of his performers throughout his career.