Prokofiev: L’Amour des Trois Oranges

A magical curse, a burst of laughter, and three tantalising oranges…

Prokofiev’s L’Amour des Trois Oranges is a delectable cocktail of satire, slapstick, and fairy tale. In this zesty and irreverent opera, laughter isn’t just the best medicine – it’s the only cure.

When the melancholic Prince shows no signs of recovery from his hypochondria, the King of Clubs is told that only laughter can restore his son’s health, so he tasks his jester, Truffaldino, with throwing a party to lift the Prince’s spirits. But trouble is already brewing…

Simmering in the underworld is the wicked witch Fata Morgana, still furious from losing a card game to the King’s noble magician and plotting her revenge. She and her servant, Smeraldina, conspire with the King’s ambitious niece to stop the Prince from ever laughing and thus prolonging his sickness.

The tables turn when Fata Morgana has a mishap at the party that makes the Prince laugh, and in retaliation she casts a ridiculous curse: he must fall madly in love with three oranges.

Suddenly swept away by a magical wind, the Prince and Truffaldino journey through the desert to retrieve the enchanted fruit. But not all goes to plan: two princesses perish from thirst, but a third is saved with help from a well-timed offer of water from the theatre crowd. Love, of course, wins out, but not without a few wonderfully quirky detours.

Prokofiev’s rare comic opera bursts with wit, wonder, and delicious absurdity. Its vibrant score leaps from magical lyricism to biting irony, blending classical tradition with modernist bite.

L’Amour des Trois Oranges is opera at its most inventive and brilliantly bizarre. Don’t miss your chance to see this tantalising tale brought to life.