About the event 'The Love for Three Oranges'

Sergey Prokofiev's four-act opera with a prologue will be performed at the Estonian National Opera.

The opera "The Love for Three Oranges" is an Italian style commedia dell’arte or improvised masque comedy as conceived by the 20th century Russian composer. Prokofiev wrote the libretto himself on the basis of the Russian adaptation of Carlo Gozzi’s eponymous comedy (1761) by Vsevolod Meierhold, Konstantin Vogak and Vladimir Solovyov. The play mocks the writings of Gozzi’s contemporary Carlo Goldoni whose sombre and superficial naturalistic melodramas were, in Gozzi’s opinion, the reason for the decline of the Italian theatre.

Gozzi’s surreal and fantasy-laden play inspired Prokofiev to create a masterpiece that mixes magic, comedy and satire. The Love for Three Oranges is a multi-layered play – it can be viewed as a play in a play, witty critique of the opera traditions of the 20th century, or as a dispute on acute political problems by means of commedia dell’arte. The multitude of interpretation possibilities of both the opera and the play has made it a real treat for stage directors and artists. After the premiere in the US, the opera was a huge success in Russia.

The Love for Three Oranges is brought to the stage by Dmitri Bertman, a stage director with an unlimited imagination, whose vision of Wallenberg earned several awards.

Music Director: Arvo Volmer

Conductor: Mihhail Gerts

Stage Director: Dmitri Bertman 

Set Designer: Igor Nezhnyi 

Costume Designer: Tatyana Tulubeva

Last update 2010 Editorial Team Classictic.com