Search - Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Warwick Fyfe, Sergey Prokofiev :: Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges

Tom Stoppard meets Prokofiev

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/29/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not sure how comic Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges actually is--you need a strong stage produciton to make sense of its assorted high jinks--but there's good reason to hear it in English. The original was in French, later adapted to Russian. I don't think I'v e ever laughed during a Russian opera, and although Gergiev's set on Philips with Kirov forces is excellent, non-Russian speakers won't catch a word. Here, under Richard Hickox, an English translation by Tom Stoppard, no less, can be mostly understood without a libretto.



What I hear still isn't very funny in this live staged performance; it's mostly a Dada burlesque. But everyone sings well, and the conductor's approach is less biting and angular than Gergiev's. There's a good French version under Kent Nagano to round out the lot. Not that Love for Three Oranges is a musical masterpiece. Leaving aside the famous march, Prokofiev threw in many modernist jokes without a great deal of melodic inspiration. In all, this set is worth hearing, but in the end you might be best off with a DVD so that the visuals can help the music along."