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Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex & Symphony of Psalms is a masterpiece which transcends time and place, harnessing the power of many languages and hundreds of local and internationally acclaimed artists that converge onto the Concert Hall Stage at the Sydney Opera House.

Sophocles’ story of a King who murders his father and marries his mother, is well ingrained in the canon of our social consciousness and comes alive in this production reinvented by Stravinsky and Cocteau and now directed by Peter Sellars and conducted by Joana Carneiro.

An ancient Greek text, re-created by a Russian composer, with libretto translated into Latin and narration translated by a Frenchman and re-translated into English, directed by an American, with design elements by an Ethiopian, performed by Australians (and Americans), lead by a Portuguese born conductor - this is truly unique International collaboration.

A plague is destroying their city when the Thebans implore King Oedipus to find the cause of the plague. Oedipus sends his brother-in-law Creon to the oracle at Delphi who claims that the plague is the result of corruption and evil in the city - namely the murderer of King Laius – the previous Theban King. In an attempt to discover the identity of the murderer, Oedipus questions Tiresias - a blind soothsayer - who identifies that a King killed the King. Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife believes that all Oracles lie, as a previous prediction that her husband would be killed by her son, did not come true as they murdered their son by mutilating his feet and leaving him on a mountainside when he was a baby to die. However it is soon uncovered that the baby, was indeed Oedipus, who was rescued by a shepherd and and later adopted by King Polybus - and that the prophecy had indeed come true - Oedipus unwittingly murdered his father and married his mother, Jocasta. In the horror of it all, Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus gouges out his eyes with her broaches and later dies.

The first several rows of the Concert Hall have been removed to allow necessary room for a curved platform to encircle the orchestra. A two metre high platform is built ontop of the concert hall stage, and is bare except for seven thrones designed by Elias Sime. Powerful footlights splash upwards onto Oedipus casting shadows of enormous twisted shapes onto the back wall, whilst on the platform below an army of contemporary clothed chorus writhe, setting the scene of the plague ridden Thebes.

This is not opera with its full trimmings and velvet curtain - but a raw and revealing ritualised retelling of Oedipus. Shocking in scale and surprising in its simplicity, the production itself immerses the audience into a collective experience of darkness - like that of Oedipus’ ignorance and eventual blindness. Paula Arundell’s Antigone is beautifully elegant and fiercely commanding - clearly leading us through the story with an equal footing of public and private shame. Roderick Dixon’s Oedipus is impressive and beautifully balances Yvonne Kenny’s authoritative Jocasta. Ryan McKinny and Daniel Montenegro complete the cast with beautifully rich solos.

Some of the chorus work was at times distracting - the synchronicity of hand gestures sometimes not as crisp or as direct as I had hoped, lessened the overall effect. Similarly the practical challenges of accommodating and manouevering the sheer quantity of performers especially from the stage were not overcome, but rather the performers after act one bottle-necked in exiting the stage.

However - this was truly a breathtaking and brave production which sought to recreate and re-invent the well-known story on a scale which is rarely experienced on Sydney stages.


Oedipus Rex &
Symphony of Psalms
by Igor Stravinsky

Conductor Joana Carneiro
Director Peter Sellars

Venue: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House Bennelong Point, East Circular Quay
Dates/Time: January 28–30 at 8pm
Duration: 1hr 30mins, including interval
Tickets: $189 - $50
Bookings: Sydney Opera House 02 9250 7777 | Sydney Festival 1300 668 812 | Ticketmaster 1300 723 038
Web: www.sydneyfestival.org.au/oedipus