- Betrothal in a Monastery
"Betrothal in a Monastery" ("Obrucheniye v monastïre" in
transliteration ) wasSergei Prokofiev 's sixth opera with an opus number. Thelibretto , in Russian, was by the composer andMira Mendelson , afterRichard Brinsley Sheridan 'sballad opera libretto forThomas Linley the younger 's "The Duenna ".Prokofiev began the work in 1940, and it was in rehearsal that year, but
World War II halted production of the opera. [Slonimsky, Nicolas, "The Duenna. A Lyric-Comic Opera in Four Acts, Nine Scenes" (June 1955). "Notes" (2nd Ser.), 12 (3): 484-485.] The first performance did not occur until 3 November 1946 [cite journal | url=http://oq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/citation/16/2/319 |last=Law |first=Joe K. | title="Betrothal in a Monastery". Sergei Prokofiev | journal=Opera Quarterly | volume=16 | issue=2 | pages=319–322 | date=2000 | accessdate=2007-08-12 | doi=10.1093/oq/16.2.319 | doi_brokendate=2008-06-23] , at the Kirov Theatre withBoris Khaikin conducting.Commentators have noted that this opera lacks any particular political or social comment, except for the scene with the drunken monks, given the context of its creation in the 1940s in the Soviet Union.cite news | url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,1827928,00.html | title=Betrothal in a Monastery/Glyndebourne | publisher="The Guardian" | author=Tom Service | date=2006-07-25 | accessdate=2007-08-12]
In recent years, the opera has been performed in 1989 at the Wexford Festival and in 2006 at Glyndebourneand will be performed at the
Palau de les Arts in Valencia,Spain in 2008.Roles
References
External links
* [http://www.prokofiev.org/catalog/work.cfm?WorkID=14&s1=21 "Betrothal in a Monastery" at prokofiev.org]
* [http://www.prokofiev.org/catalog/work.cfm?WorkID=134&s1=23,24,36,33,1 "Summer Night" at prokofiev.org]
* [http://www.glyndebourne.com/festival/gfo0000_opera.cfm?prod=37 Glyndebourne Festival Opera]
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