Opera Reviews
29 March 2024
Untitled Document

The Love for Three Oranges - a satirical classic



by Glyn Williams
Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges
Bolshoi Theatre
10 November 2012

The Love for Three Oranges was Sergei Prokofiev's third opera. Commissioned by the Chicago Opera Foundation, it was completed during his tour of the United States in autumn 1919 and first performed at the city's Auditorium Theatre on 30 December 1921. American reactions varied. The Chicago production was generally successful despite one critic's comment that 'it left many of our best people dazed and wondering' and dismissal by another as 'Russian jazz with Bolshevik trimmings'. In 1922 it was given a severe reception in New York, where Prokofiev, by this time dubbed 'the Russian barbarian', compared his treatment at the hands of the critics to having his trousers torn to shreds by a pack of hounds. The European premiere was given in Cologne in March 1925 and the first Russian performance in Petrograd in February 1926. It reached Moscow in May 1927, the performance on 10 November 2012 constituting its 93rd outing at the Bolshoi. It was the 53rd performance of Peter Ustinov's 1997 production.

The libretto, prepared by Prokofiev himself, was based on the semi-improvised play L'amore delle tre melarance by the Venetian satirist Carlo Gozzi (1720-1806). It opens with a short prologue in which advocates of tragedy, comedy, romance, 'empty heads' and 'eccentrics' argue for supremacy. Leaning heavily on the commedia dell'arte tradition, the story is set 'in an imaginary state whose clothes are like playing cards' and focuses on the King of Clubs' (bass) grave concerns for his melancholic and hypochondriac son the Prince (tenor). The danger is that if the Prince dies the kingdom will later pass to his niece, the odious Princess Clarissa (contralto) and her intended consort the scheming Prime Minister Leandro (baritone). There is no shortage of magicians: Tchelio (bass) for the King and Fata Morgana (soprano), aided and abetted by her accomplice Smeraldina (mezzo-soprano), for Clarissa. While Princess Clarissa and Co. fill the Prince's head with tragedies and boring verse, the King hopes that laughter will be the cure and summons court jester Truffaldino (tenor). All efforts to amuse the Prince fail until Fata Morgana slips to the floor, revealing a pair of absurd pantaloons. The Prince laughs and the evil witch puts a curse on him, condemning him to fall in love with three oranges and pursue them to the ends of the earth. The Prince and Truffaldino set off on their quest.

They track the oranges to the castle of the terrifying and all-powerful cook Creonte (bass - though the character is female). Tchelio warns them that the oranges must be cut open near water. He arms them with a beautiful magic bow with which Truffaldino diverts Creonte while the Prince steals the oranges. They escape and end up stranded and without water in a desert. While the Prince sleeps, Truffaldino opens the first two oranges. By now, the fruits are enlarged to a massive size. One orange contains Princess Linetta (contralto), the other Princess Nicoletta (mezzo-soprano). Without water, they both shrivel and die. Truffaldino runs off in shame just before the Prince wakes up. He cuts open the third orange, revealing the beautiful Princess Ninetta (soprano). Water is provided miraculously by the sudden appearance of 'eccentrics' dragging a rain cloud. The Prince dashes off to inform the King of his triumph. While he is away, Fata Morgana abducts Ninetta, incarcerating her in a huge rat. Her place is taken by Smeraldina who, much to the Prince's horror, presents herself at court as his intended. The 'eccentrics' lure Fata Morgana into a trap, allowing Tchelio to lift the curse. The King shoots the giant rat but Princess Ninetta emerges unscathed. The opera concludes with general rejoicing.

The performance on 10 November 2012 was conducted by Alan Buribaev with designs by Oleg Sheintsis, assistant direction by Peter Shalsa, choreography by Mikhail Kislyarov and lighting by Damir Ismagilov. The part of the King was played by rich-voiced bass Vladimir Matorin, the Prince, in a suitably whining high voice, by Alexei Dolgov, Princess Clarissa by Nadezhda Karyazina, Leandro by Alexei Pashiev, Truffaldino, with panache, by Maxim Paster, the king's adviser Pantalone by baritone Konstantin Shushakov, Tchelio by Vladimir Kudashev, Fata Morgana by Irina Udalova and Smeraldina by Xenia Vyaznikova. The three princesses were portrayed by Alexandra Kadurina (Linetta), Ekaterina Golovleva (Nicoletta) and Alina Yarovaya (Ninetta). Dressed in a hideous, full-body, naked female prosthetic, complete with wobbling bare breasts and bottom, the part of the Cook was covered expertly by bass Grigoriy Shkarupa. Oleg Sheintsis' design made clever use of three rising and falling metal gantries, placed horizontally across the stage, and costumes were cunningly limited in colour to playing-card black, white and red.

Commenting on the work's eventual popularity after such a shaky start, Peter Ustinov, born the same year as the opera's premiere in 1921, remarked that he, too, was an avantgardist. 'The best avantgardists of that time have become classics'. I suspect that the packed audience here at the Bolshoi New Stage would have agreed that Prokofiev's brilliantly satirical opera is, indeed, a classic.

Text © Glyn WIlliams
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