PROKOFIEV - L'Amour des trois Oranges
This opera was a product of Prokofiev’s years in America, but its origins and title lay in an earlier encounter with the absurdist magazine The Love for Three Oranges, which had stimulated much interest in the anarchic world of the commedia dell’arte. The work would give Prokofiev his one real operatic success during his lifetime. The colourful fairy-tale nature of the story is matched by brilliant and detailed orchestration (and the opera’s march has become a favourite of arrangers). The first performance was given at the Chicago Opera in December 1921. Ironically, however, a combination of the time and effort he had devoted to the opera and a diminishing number of performances caused the composer financial difficulties that forced him to leave America for Paris. This recording was made in 1989 following performances at the Lyons Opera by a French-speaking cast assembled under the newly appointed musical director Kent Nagano.

0946 3 58694 2 2 (2CDs)
0946 3 58694 5 3 (Digital Download)