Organization

Singer

Bass-baritone

Clive Bayley

Tirésias

Tenor

Yann Beuron

Laius

Video designer

Stéphane Pougnand

Soprano

Anna-Sophie Neher

Antigone

Baritone

Brian Mulligan

Créon

Mezzo-soprano

Ekaterina Gubanova

Jocasta

Clémentine Margaine

The Sphinx

Vincent Ordonneau

Shepherd

Bass

Laurent Naouri

High Priest

Contralto

Anne Sofie von Otter

Mérope

Christopher Maltman

Oedipe

Adrian Timpau

Thésée

Nicolas Cavallier

Phorbas

Daniela Entcheva

Women Of Thebe

Stage director

Wajdi Mouawad

Conductor

Ingo Metzmacher

Lighting designer

Eric Champoux

Costume designer

Emmanuelle Thomas

Set designer

Emmanuel Clolus

Dramaturge

Charlotte Farcet

Chorus master

Chin-Lien Wu

Opéra National de Paris

Others

Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine

Orchestra

Paris Opera Orchestra

French

Oedipe -  (Oedipus)

Paris

France

Opéra Bastille

To compose his masterwork, Enescu combined two Greek tragedies by Sophocles in order to tell the full story of Oedipus—Brilliantly brought to life by baritone Christopher Maltman—instead of solely setting the episode for which he has become infamous. “We are telling the story of a human being, [...] his whole life from its beginning to its end” explains stage director Wajdi Mouawad, “Oedipus is a taboo, he is a punishment incarnate” inflicted to his father Laïos (the excellent Yann Beuron) who will also cause the downfall of his mother, Queen Jocasta (the marvellous Ekaterina Gubanova). When Sophocles’s play premiered, the city of Athens was ravaged by a plague: “one needs to imagine a decimated city, where Apollo says ‘a crime was committed, it needs to be put right’. Then it turns out that the king, the one leading the investigation, discovers that he is the crime, that he is guilty”. This famous episode of Greek mythology, implanted in our own cultural and even linguistic landscape, shines in a new and different light in Enescu’s version, more subtle due to the importance of symbolism. The tale of Oedipus and the questions his legend raises were as relevant in Antiquity as they are in the 21st century.

Emmanuelle Thomas’s gorgeous costumes, Emmanuel Clolus’s sober scenography, as well as the talent of the performers: all contribute to immersing the audience in a fantastic and eternal world.

Videos