This opera, premiered in Chicago in 1921, is a farce about a morose, hypochondriacal Prince in the land of the King of Clubs. His father tries to make him laugh with the help of the wizard, Tchelio, while Princess Clarice and the Prime Minister want him to die so they can take over the kingdom, and are aided by the witch, Fata Morgana. Commedia dell'arte figures help, hinder and comment. Morgana dooms the Prince to fall in love with three oranges; after confrontations with a huge cook, a rat, and a lovely princess, all eventually turns out well. Besides the famous "March," there are no real tunes in the opera, but Prokofiev's colorful, witty score is loved by aficionados. The just-about-perfect production from the Netherlands Opera, designed and directed by Laurent Kelly, is playful, brilliantly colorful, and fun to watch. Huge playing cards make up the scenery and props and sets whirl in and around. The Prince, in his pajamas throughout, may be dreaming, and there are special effects galore. The cast could not be better; conductor Stephane Deneve has the exact pulse of this odd work and is a good sport when the action of the opera spills over into the orchestra pit at times. If you're a Prokofiev fan, this is for you--you'll probably never see a better performance of this wacky work. --Robert Levine
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Wonderfull Art Cathedral:
I enjoyed very much this version of Prokofiev's "L'Amour des Trois Oranges". In general is a very fresh and imaginative put in scene of a work that was written in the times of the "Commedia del Arte" by Carlo Gozzi.
The presentation of the classical personages of the "Commedia del Arte" such as the "polichinella", "prince", "dottore" among others, with a funny new approach of garderobe is a smart feature. Some of the dynamics on the stage are inspired in the classical greek theater (a very... more info
Full Package!:
This is a great disc! The performance is fantastic, the sets and costumes are superb... There is a great mini-documentary included... Really worth having! The sound of the orchestra is great, while the singers should probably have been mic'd... But it doesn't really detract from the whole package. Highest recommendations.
very entertaining and enjoyable:
Enjoyed very much the production. This is not supposed to be your typical opera production and it isn't. It is entertaining and the music is sublime. Interestingly, this can be considered an American opera. It was commisioned, composed and premierd in the US by a Russian composer taking into account american taste and sang in French (the globalization of music in 1920?). Worth listening and viewing many times.
High-pitched humor -- timeless:
The main achievement of this "The Love for Three Oranges" is that the intrinsic brilliant wit of Prokofiev is so lively embodied - with such sense of humor and sparkling enthusiasm. Among few performances which we've seen this is definitely the best, being at the first glance simple silly tale - it captures the soul and senses and move the spectator to the new level (and not steps down to one's perception).
So, many thanks to actors, conductor and director for this chance!
![Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin Fleming, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Gergiev, Carsen [Metropolitan Opera 2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31NNTMfZRWL._SL75_.jpg)
