Oedipus Rex by I. Stravinsky and The Rape of Lucretia by B. Britten: On the parallels in the opera embodiment of the two ancient stories

This paper compares musical theatrical versions of the two ancient stories (the ancient Greek, and the ancient Roman one): Stravinsky’s opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex (1927) and Britten’s opera-mystery The Rape of Lucretia (1946). Identifying common features in genre, composition, dramatic and stylistic sphere, including the active assimilation of baroque components, the authors emphasize that the statuarity being more characteristic of the epically majestic Oedipus, but not alien to the dramatic and emotional Lucretia, is adjacent to the principles of symphonism. The musical conflict in both operas is seen as the collision of the Man and an insurmountable external force. Both Stravinsky and Britten subordinate the musical thematism associated with these characters to a similar logic of development, up to the parallels at the level of tonal semantics. The young Britten’s acquaintance with Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex in 1936 later served as one of the impulses for his reference to the ancient topic in opera. But despite certain similarities between the two works, each reveals the author’s own individuality: the monumental neoclassicism of Oedipus contrasts with the lyric-psychological mode of expression which dominates in the chamber opera Lucretia.

1. Kovnatskaya L. G. Bendzhamin Britten. M.: Sov. kompozitor, 1974. 433 s.

2. Braginskaya N. Igor’ Stravinskiy: «Britanskie berega» // Russko-britanskie muzykal’nye svyazi / red.-sost. L. G. Kovnatskaya. SPb.: SPbGK, 2009. S. 226–260.

3. Dayan P. Poeziya Stravinskogo // Dayan P. Zhivopis’ kak muzyka, muzyka kak poeziya, poeziya kak zhivopis’ / per. s angl. A. A. Mitrofanova. SPb.: Izdatel’stvo imeni N. I. Novikova, 2020. S. 165−204.

4. Walsh S. Stravinsky: Oedipus rex. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 118 p.

5. Rusanova O. Interv’yu s Ekaterinoy Odegovoy: vse lishnee nuzhno otsech’ // Muzykal’naya zhizn’. 2019. № 5. URL: https://muzlifemagazine.ru/lukreciya-ranimazhelaniem/ (data obrashcheniya: 02.10.2022).

6. Met’yuz D. Britten // Britten: Sbornik / sost. i per. A. Geninoy; nauch. red. i poslesl. L. Kovnatskoy. M.: Tsentr knigi Rudomino, 2013. S. 15−232.

7. Wearing J. P. The London Stage 1950−1959: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. 1004 p.

8. Toorn P. van den. Oedipus Rex // The Cambridge Stravinsky Encyclopedia / ed. By E. Campbell and P. O’Hagan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021. P. 291–293.

9. Stravinskiy I. Dialogi. Vospominaniya, razmyshleniya, kommentarii / per. s angl. V. A. Linnik; sost., poslesl. i obshch. red. M. S. Druskina. L.: Muzyka, 1971. 413 (xvi) s.

10. Baranova-Monigetti T. B. Notnaya biblioteka Stravinskogo v kontekste ego biografii i tvorchestva (po materialam Fonda Paulya Zakhera) // Muzykal’naya akademiya. 2021. № 2. S. 38−77.

11. Moody I. Stravinsky’s Spiritual Journey // Stravinsky in Context / ed. by G. Griffiths. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021. P. 42−49.

12. Pospelov P. V «Novoy opere» udachno postavili operu Brittena «Poruganie Lukretsii» // Vedomosti. 2019. 28 aprelya. URL: https://www.vedomosti.ru/lifestyle/articles/2019/04/28/800428-novoi-opere (data obrashcheniya: 02.10.2022).

13. Cross J. Paris, Art Deco and the Spirit of Apollo // Stravinsky in Context / ed. by G. Griffiths. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021. P. 80–89.

14. Baeva A. A. Opernyy teatr I. F. Stravinskogo. M.: KRASAND, 2009. 304 s.

15. Stravinskiy I. Tsar’ Edip. Klavir. M.: Muzyka, 1971. 104 s.

16. Gozenpud A. A. Opernyy slovar’. 2-e izd. SPb.: Kompozitor • Sankt-Peterburg, 2005. 631 s.

17. Raku M. Opernyy zhanr kak antropologicheskiy fenomen // Raku M. Opernye shtudii. SPb.: Izdatel’stvo imeni N. I. Novikova, 2019. S. 431–462.

18. Sorokina T. S. «Tsar’ Edip» kak obrazets neoklassicheskogo stilya Stravinskogo // Nauchno-metodicheskie zapiski. Vyp. 5. Novosibirsk: NGK im. Glinki, 1970. S. 216−243.

19. Alfeevskaya G. S. «Tsar’ Edip» Stravinskogo: k probleme neoklassitsizma // Teoreticheskie problemy muzyki XX veka. Vyp. 2. M.: Muzyka, 1978. S. 126−168.

20. «Poruganie Lukretsii» v Novoy Opere. URL: https://novayaopera.ru/afisha-i-bilety/repertuar/poruganie-lukretsii/?ysclid=l1qrzp2a1i (data obrashcheniya: 02.10.2022).

21. Okuneva E. G., Volodyagina D. A. Zhanr passakal’i v opernom tvorchestve B. Brittena // Muzykal’nyy zhurnal Evropeyskogo Severa. 2019. № 1 (17). S. 1−25.