Search - Stravinsky, Pears, Modl :: Oedipus Rex

A great historical performance, with Pears at his peak

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Peter Pears is the highlight here, singing the title role of Oedipus in Oct. 1951, just two months before he triumphantly premiered as Captain Vere in Britten's new opera, Billy Budd, at Covent Garden. His portrayal of Oedipus, even after five decades and many rivals, is close to definitive: Pears conveys every line with intensity and emotional depth. The voice is in prime shape (there's a stereo remake with Solti where Pears is in much shakier voice). A contemporary Columbia recording that features Pears is the same as this broadcast one, although librettist Jean Cocteau was spliced in as the narrator, in French. The sound here is a fine radio braodcast with excellent capture of the soloists. The chorus is too far back, but the orchestra is fairly detailed.



The composer conducts in his dry, precise way, which means that you won't hear the orchestral music with anything like the expertise of Colin Davis, Bernstein, or James Levine in their respective readings. But if the orchestra and chorus stumble a bit, every soloist is giving their all emotionally. Martha Modl, unusual for being a soprano Jocasta insstead of the customry mezzo, has a lower range that fully encompasses the part. Tonally, her voice is unbeautiful, as is Pears', but both are such great artists that this is a quibble. Be prepared for a narrator who speaks in German rather than French or English as in all the other commerial recordings. But the composer explicitly instructs that the narration be spoken in the audience's native tongue.



I try to collect or at least listen to every recording of Oedipus Rex, a favorite work, and have no hesitation in calling this one of the top choices."