Œdipe

Tragédie lyrique in four acts and six images (1936)
Libretto by Edmond Fleg
Sung in French with German and English surtitles

Premiere
16 July 2025 – 7.30 p.m., Festspielhaus | Großer Saal

Additional shows
20 July – 11.00 a.m.
28 July – 7.30 p.m.

Advance booking starts on 1 October 2024. 

King Laïos of Thebes is haunted by a terrible curse. The Oracle of Delphi predicted that his firstborn would kill him and marry his own mother Jocasta. Out of fear, Laïos commands a shepherd to kill the child right after its birth. But fate has other plans: Œdipe survives and grows up as the son of King Polybos and Queen Merope in Corinthe. They never tell him about his origins. As a teenager, however, Œdipe finds out about the portentous prophecy. He leaves his alleged parents to flee his fate. Just outside of Thebes, where he defeats the Sphinx, Œdipe starts an argument with a stranger and beats him to death. Celebrated as a hero, he is crowned the new king and marries the widowed Queen. What he does not know: The man he killed was his real father and the woman he marries is his mother, Jocasta. This heinous crime does not go unpunished. A plague haunts Thebes and Œdipe, guilty by accident, realizes that he fulfilled his prophecy a long time ago. Jocasta commits suicide, Œdipe blinds himself and leaves his family and Thebes. After suffering decades of isolation, the Gods finally grant Œdipe mercy and lead him back into the light.

Musical Director Hannu Lintu
Stage Director Andreas Kriegenburg
Stage Designer Harald B. Thor
Costume Designer Tanja Hofmann
Lighting Designer Andreas Grüter

Prague Philharmonic Choir
Wiener Symphoniker