Sergei Prokofiev - Opera in four acts in Cankarjev dom

Libretto: Sergei Prokofiev, based on a play by Carlo Gozzi
Music Director: Dieter Rossberg
Directed by: Vito Taufer
Choreography and stage gesture: Mojca Horvat
Set design: Samo Lapajne
Costume design: Angelina Atlagić

Cast:
King of Clubs, King of imaginary land: Saša Čano / Jurij Kruglov guest / Zoran Potočan; Prince, his son: Dejan Maksimović, guest /Marat Gali, guest /; Princess Clarissa, the King’s niece: Mirjam Kalin /Monika Bohinec, guest; Leandre, plotter against the King and Prince: Slavko Savinšek /Marko Kobal ; Truffaldino: Andrej Debevec / Dejan Vrbančič; Pantalone, the prince’s somewhat unreliable sidekick: Jože Vidic / Robert Vrčon; Tchelio, a bumbling wizard and protector of the Prince: Slavko Sekulić/Juan Vasle; Fata Morgana, the evil witch who curses the Prince: Mirjam Tola/Rebeka Radovan; Ninetta, the princess of the orange: Urška Žižek Plavec /Simona Raffanelli Krajnc; Creonte, the evil chef who has imprisoned the three oranges: Juraj Pajanovič /Saša Čano

Co-production of: SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana and Cankarjev dom

Sung in Russian with Slovenian surtitles translated by Mira Jakopec.

This absurd story, full of humorous, surreal situations, is based on the composer’s adaptation of the play, L'amore delle tre melarance, by Carlo Gozzi, in the tradition of commedia dell'arte. A picturesque and vivid comedy involving a young prince who, after being cursed by Fata Morgana, is suffering from profound melancholia. He is forced to travel to distant lands in search of three oranges, each of which contains a princess.

A precocious child, Sergei Prokofiev displayed unusual musical abilities at an early age and was at 13 admitted to the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In addition to The Love of Three Oranges, his mature operas are The Fiery Angel and War and Peace based on Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece. He produced many works for film, while his most popular ballet scores include Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet. Today one of the most extensively reinterpreted 20th century composers, the influence of Prokofiev’s genius has been tremendous. Treating condensed and effective subjects, some of his passages (Peter and the Wolf, The Montagues and the Capulets from the ballet Romeo and Juliet) have become pop classics, while works such as Symphony No. 1 ‘Classical’ in D form part of standard concert repertoires.

A colourful, fantasic and amusing opera, The Love of Three Oranges met with an enthusiastic response and received widespread international attention at its opening night in Chicago on 30 December 1921. After a world-wide surge of controversy and enthusiasm, the news of this appealing and modern work of the then 30-year-old Prokofiev also reached Slovenian opera circles. Ljubljana saw the premiere of this opera in the 1927/28 season. In the 1950’s, the opera was a huge international success of the Ljubljana operahouse, touring the Netherlands and making guest appearances in Paris in 1956 and two years later in Venice. What’s more, the album recorded with conductor Bogo Leskovic received the Philips’ Grand Prix for best recording in 1957.

On this occasion the opera will be directed by Vito Taufer, who has repeatedly demonstrated his excellent mastery of mise-en-scene as well as a feel for buffoonery, phantasmagoria and magic at the Ljubljana operahouse. Most recently with set designer Samo Lapajne and choreographer Mojca Horvat in last year’s fantastic performance of The Breasts of Tiresias. Angelina Atlagić is an internationally acclaimed costume designer, currently involved in the staging of War and Peace at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich and director Boris Pakovski. The role of music director will be assumed by Dieter Rossberg, who has been who has been regular conductor of January opera productions in Gallus Hall.

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