Oedipus Rex / Antigone

In Oedipus Rex, Stravinsky’s imposing opera-oratorio in Latin, the city of Thebes is afflicted by a pestilence. The only way to end the plague is to find and punish the old king’s murderer. Tensions mount ever higher between the people of the city and their leaders. Moussa’s Antigone, sung in Greek, deals with the tragedy of Oedipus’s daughter. Out of a sense of moral obligation, she breaks the law introduced by King Creon, but her decision does not go unpunished.

World premiere

While Stravinsky’s opera assigns a key role to the male chorus, the Canadian composer Samy Moussa foregrounds the female chorus in his new composition. Moussa’s lively, colourful sound worlds have previously been performed by the Wiener Philharmoniker and the London Symphony Orchestra, among others. The conductor Erik Nielsen, a specialist in the modern and contemporary repertoire, is in charge of premiering Moussa’s first major vocal composition. He will be conducting the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, a return to the orchestra with which he previously premiered Manfred Trojahn’s Eurydice – Die Liebenden, blind. 

Mart van Berckel and Nanine Linning

Mart van Berckel (who previously directed the provocative production Ändere die Welt at DNO) and Nanine Linning (both a choreographer and opera director, in her debut at DNO and DNB) were able to take charge of the stage direction for this project at short notice. Working in tandem, they have created a theatrical experience that takes the political and social predicaments of the ancient city of Thebes as its central theme. 

Mart van Berckel is responsible for the male chorus and vocal soloists in the impressive Oedipus Rex while Nanine Linning has developed a vivid theatrical idiom for Antigone in partnership with the female chorus and dancers of Dutch National Ballet. They are working with an outstanding cast of performers, including mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly (Jocasta), tenor Sean Panikkar (Oedipus) and dancer Qian Liu, a principal dancer at Dutch National Ballet.