Oidípous

The acclaimed world premiere of Calliope Tsoupaki's Lucas Passie (St. Luke's Passion) at the Holland Festival 2008 was one of the highlights for Pierre Audi - who, incidentally, was responsible for the mise-en-espace - in his 10 year tenure as artistic director at the Holland Festival. The Greek-Dutch composer Tsoupaki has a completely unique musical idiom, combining elements from contemporary Western music with the Greek Orthodox tradition. She blends East and West in a contemplative, spiritual unity which is deeply personally motivated and at the same time has universal significance. Audi is delighted to have her back at the 2014 festival, his tenth and last edition as artistic director, again performing a world premiere. Tsoupaki's Lucas Passie was a decidedly religious piece, based on the bible and on Greek Orthodox liturgy, but at the same time the dynamic part of Christ was rooted in the tragedies from ancient Greece. Oidípous, a semi scenic oratorio based on Sophocles’ Oidipuste Colonus, connects directly with this tradition. The oratorio is performed by the Dutch Bach Society (Nederlanse Bachvereniging) led by Jos van Veldhoven. Tsoupaki has written for non-Western instruments before, in combination with as well as without European instruments, so this new venture into the realm of historical instruments appears to be another phase in her search for an open, transparant and living sound.

Having worked with Tsoupaki on Dark in 2002, writer Edzard Mik developed his concept for Oidípous in collaboration with the composer. In his novels Mik has adopted themes which spring from Ancient Greek tragedy and mythology. Laatste Adem (2001) is a work which touches on the myth of Orpheus; Bleke Hemel (2007) implicitly deals with the tragedy of Antigone; Mont Blanc (2012) can be interpreted as a twist on the Oedipus myth; and also his most recent work Waar de zee begint (Where the sea begins), which will come out in September 2014, contains various references to Greek tragedy. 

Sophocles' tragedy Oidipus te Colonus is a rather static play and difficult to perform. It can be summarised as a long, angry rant by the old and blind Oedipus, who curses his sons and bemoans the miserable life that has befallen him. The miraculous thing is that his bitterness seems to eventually give him religious relief – at the end, although he is blind, he enters the woods without any help and is accepted into the underworld.

Mik and Tsoupaki have attempted to breathe lighter air into their oratorio. In the adaptation of the text – which is in Greek, Tsoupaki's mother tongue – as well as in the composition, they have tried to free the tragedy of its excessive stress on individual responsibility and the subsequent personal tension and drama.

Tsoupaki gives her three singers multiple roles, which also used to be the custom in the tragedy performances in ancient times. All the leading and supporting roles were performed by male actors. Using masks allowed them to perform multiple roles. In order to add an extra dramatic layer, they also make up the chorus. The vocal lines vary from static monologue to dynamic dialogue, with theatrical movement incorporated. As Tsoupaki loves the warm sound of historical instruments and because the interpretative approach of baroque musicians suits her music, she has chosen to work exclusively with baroque instruments on Oidípous.