OEDIPUS REX is one of my favourite Stravinsky works.  Despite the stated intention (in the spoken Prologue) to deal with the the emotions on the scale of the massive, as something "turned to stone", the lyrical setting of the text for Oedipus, Creon and Jocasta is appealing and intimate in nature. I think every tenor dreams of singing "oportebat!"   And I love the added 9th (with a trumpet) in the closing chord of the first half

What are dolmades?

This is one Stravinsky piece that I've never really warmed to, although not for lack of trying.  Maybe I should get a score.  Now that I think of it, it's the same with Rake's Progress; some combination of the "neoclassicism" and the dramatic form doesn't work for me, though I can certainly support both ingredients on their own.

My working through the recent Sony 22-CD box has been interrupted by travels but the real discovery for me has been Persephone--a stunning piece, one which I had never heard and about which I knew (and still know) virtually nothing.  But Oedipus Rex?  Meh.

Dolmades are a Greek side serving, Evan. I was trying to be inventive with the British colloquialism "cheap as chips" (or, to you, as inexpensive as french-fries). Basically a parcel of rice and meat or veggies and fruit in vine leaves, as here.

Yep, the Ancerl is a greater reading too, but there's something about the CBS/Sony which emphasises the corny rather than the elemental. Persephone? Well, now that's a different kettle of fish entirely: but as I've mentioned before, Stravinsky's one of those composers where my favourite work is likely to be the one I've most recently heard....

Pretty much in agreement with that, Evan. I've always suspected that I didn't like it (again despite several abortive attempts) and had that suspicion confirmed last night when I attended a concert performance of it at the Edinburgh Festival. Most of the audience in the packed Usher Hall seemed to like it, though. (My girlfriend and I vastly preferred the first half, which was an old favourite of mine, Orpheus. Strangely enough that seemed to be the one the audience didn't 'get'.)

However I'm glad I went, as I've never been able to listen to a recording long enough to catch the final chorus, which really was pretty magnificent. And I agree about the orchestration, Ron - I don't know how he does it, but it really sounded like there was a full chorus there!

I've only ever seen - or rather not seen - it in concert too, Ron: a CBSO performance a year or two ago, with some occasionally very odd tempi from Sakari Oramo (he of the often eccentric tempi). I was told at the time by a friend that there's an excellent DVD, and when I saw Stuart's thread earlier today I suddenly realised I'd never got round to buying it and now can't remember the performers.

Yes, that's kind of the point of the piece!

For those sceptical about the piece, try this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1EqMcu3k3A