Jessye Norman / Iritziak

Jessye Norman had the stage all to herself as she opened the season of the Theatre du Chatelet as "the woman" in two one-acters about a woman in the process of losing her mind because she is losing her man. Schoenberg's "Erwartung" consists of the hysterical ravings of a woman stumbling through a forest in search of her lover, whom she finally finds shot to death by her rival.

C’est sur une véritable soirée de gala que s’est ouverte la saison 2002-2003 du Théâtre du Châtelet, qui accueillait pour la seconde fois consécutive en ce même cadre, la majestueuse Jessye Norman.

The festival's highlight is Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex," for which a Western-and-Japanese team created an elaborate set, complete with a reflecting pool covering the stage to evoke a misty path blending East and West. The soprano Jessye Norman was cast in the lead role of Jocasta, the mother of the ancient Greek king Oedipus.

Seiji Ozawa led a monumental new “Oedipus Rex” at the fledgling Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto, Japan. Directed by Julie Taymor--she of masks, puppets and a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant--that production of Stravinsky’s opera-oratorio seems as close to definitive as the difficult work may allow.