George Enescu's opera Oedipe is one of the greatest operas of the twentieth century, as good in its way as
Berg's Wozzeck is. Oedipe has a distinctive, innovative score; is a gripping, intense drama, and provides plenty of substantive and attractive music for singers, chorus, and orchestra alike to chew on. Prior to this Albany Records issue, the top choice for Oedipe was a very fine one helmed by
Michel Plasson and issued on EMI; and Naxos has released another under
Michael Gielen. The Oedipe under consideration is headed by
Ian Hobson leading
Sinfonia da Camera and originating with a performance given in 2005 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; many of the performers featured here are students of the university. The recording is a bit distant, though digital, while the performance is dutiful and a bit dull. The
Plasson set didn't have any of these shortcomings, but Albany's set has a much better translation of the French libretto than the EMI set did.
Plasson's recording is rather difficult to find, and the Albany recording of Oedipe will fill the need in a pinch. One would have to be a truly die-hard fan of
Enescu to want both.