In December, George Enescu’s rarely performed opera Oedipe was produced in Frankfurt by legendary stage director Hans Neuenfels. The performance received great reviews.

George Enescu (1881-1955) spent more than 26 years working on Oedipe, his only opera. The triumphant world premiere took place in 1936 in Paris. The opera tells the classic story of Oedipus. The central theme of this tragédie lyrique is the question of freedom of will, and the opera ends, intentionally, without any form of resolution or redemption.

The new production by stage director Hans Neuenfels, conducted by Alexander Liebreich, uses a new translation and features several changes and cuts. Reviews from numerous German newspapers were positive. Hans-Jürgen Linke from Frankfurter Rundschau wrote, “Watching this work and listening to it gives you a great benefit.” And even though Christian Wildhagen of FAZ criticized the cuts that Neuenfells and Liebreich made, his verdict was enthusiastic: “This is so magnificent that it would have done no harm if it would have taken twice as long.”